Chosen One: Ash's Reward
by inflatedtaco
Summary: Ash returns from Sinnoh to spend some time at home and figure out where to go next. He gets more than he bargained for, however, and is finally rewarded for all that he has done. What will Ash do with this new found power? Develops into tournament fic. Slightly smarter Ash. T for some language.
1. Awakening

**Hey there! welcome one and all to my first fanfic! I'm gonna keep this short. This story is mainly just me putting my imaginings on paper and screwing around. It does have a plot, and I think its funny, but Its really open for me to just play with right now. Any way, Enjoy!**

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**Disclaimer**: I don't own pokemon. Yet.

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

_"Telepathy"_

Ash Ketchum walked down route one, on the path to his home. He had recently reached the semi-finals of the Sinnoh leage and was eager to get home for a break. His faithful Pikachu rested on his shoulder as they walked, appreciating the comfortable silence between them. Recently Pikachu felt as if something was different in their relationship, neither good nor bad, but different. He hadn't addressed Ash about it yet, but he felt the change grow as they approached Pallet town, and decided it was time.

"Pikapi" Pikachu said.

"Yeah buddy?" Ash replied, looking over at his best friend.

"Pi pika pichu pika chupi, pikapi?"

"No, I don't feel like I'm different. Why?"

"Pikachu pi pika chu chu pika ka pika chupi Pikachu, pikapi."

"Since Sinnoh? Huh. I swear I don't feel any different, maybe you're finally losing it Pikachu."

"Pika, pikapi! Chu, pika."

"Alright, alright, calm down. We'll look into it when we get to pallet, how about that?"

"Pi, pikapi."

The two continued in silence after that. As they crested the hill overlooking pallet town the two smiled at the place they called home. This was where their journey began, and where they would always feel a sense of safety and welcome. Ash sprinted down the street and up to the door of his house, and Pikachu hung on for his life, and for a moment forgot his worries.

"Mom I'm home!" Ash called.

"Ash I'm so happy to see you!" his mom said as she squeezed all life out of the dear boy. "I'm so proud of you for making the semi-finals in Sinnoh! Me, Professor Oak, Gary, and Tracey all watched your match. You did fantastic; you even took down two legendary pokemon! I want to hear all about your journeys, and what pokemon you caught, and more about this Dawn girl, and where did Brock go, and did you get in any more trouble and did you remember to change your-"

"Ok mom! I'm happy to see you too, but can we talk later? I'm starving!" Ash said as his stomach audibly proved his point.

"Sure honey, let's go eat. I made all your favorites."

And they ate. Well, Delia ate, and Ash and Pikachu destroyed. Delia watched with a bit of nostalgia as her son ate, and wondered how long he was staying. He only just got here, but he likes go on new adventures as much as possible. Ash finished up his meal and told his mom that he was going to professor Oak's to drop off his pokemon, and to catch up with his old ones. He walked out the door and started down the path towards the lab, getting ever more eager to chat with his old teams, and see if they have been keeping up with their training. Pikachu was eager as well, but also wanted to see if the others could identify exactly what was occurring in their trainer. Ash was fidgeting as he knocked on the door, excited to get in the ranch as soon as possible.

"Hey Ash, how's it been?" Tracy asked as he opened the door.

"Hey Tracey, how are you? I just got back from Sinnoh and wanted to come see all my pokemon."

"Sure, no problem. They're all out back where they normally are. By the way congrats on the tournament! You and Pikachu are looking stronger than ever. Also you have… to…" he trailed off as he saw Ash sprint off towards his pokemon only yelling thanks back to Tracey as he ran. "Well I guess Ash is happy to be back. I'll have to sketch some of his Sinnoh pokemon later though." Tracy went back to the lab, seeking to tell the professor of Ash's return.

"Hmmm, where are they?" Ash asked himself as he wandered through the ranch.

"Pika…." Pikachu said as he hopped of Ash's shoulder and backed up.

"Pikachu, what're you doing… oh shit! I remember now!" As if on cue the ground started to rumble. "Pikachu get back here! If I have to deal with being stampeded, then so do you!" His faithful started ran off, only shouting back that they were Ash's pokemon, and these were the consequences of him being a trainer. "Wait no, don't-" Ash couldn't finish as he was trampled by a herd of pokemon, most notably his 30 Tauros. Suddenly he felt himself being dragged out of the pile… and into something worse.

"Bay, bay!" Bayleef shouted as she slammed him to the ground.

"I'm happy to see you too Bayleef, and thanks for pulling me out, now could you get off? I prefer my ribs to be intact." The green dinosaur consented and hauled Ash to his feet so he could greet everyone else. He soon introduced his Sinnoh team to the group and told them of all his adventures in the Sinnoh region. His pokemon were astounded that not only did he meet the creation trio, but Arceus himself. And not only did he meet Arceus, but he saved Arceus. All of his pokemon were amazed again that he reached the semi-finals, with that being his best placement in a regional tournament. After a few hours Ash left to go talk to Oak and Tracey but Pikachu elected to stay behind.

"Pi pika pichu, pikapi? (Did you notice any change in Ash)" The yellow rodent asked.

"Bulba, saur bulbasaur. Saur?" (A little but nothing big. Why?)

"Pi pikapi Pikachu pi pika pika pipichu chupika pika pichu pika. Pi pika chupi pika… pi." (Ever since we left Sinnoh it feels like something is changing in him. Its not bad or good just… different)

"Bulba, saur bulba bulba saur. Bulba bulba saur bulbasaur." (Well you are with him all the time. If anyone noticed, it was you.)

All the pokemon conceded that they felt something a little different but just attributed it to the fact that he was gone for the last year. The Sinnoh team said they felt something as well and that he wasn't like this when they left Sinnoh. Pikachu wondered what it could be, especially since every time something can go wrong, it always happens around Ash. All the legendary pokemon, all the evil teams of humans, and every small time criminal, poke-napper, and bounty hunter all seemed to go after Ash. This, of course, worried Pikachu that something bad might be befalling his trainer. He scampered off to find his trainer and was pleased to see him chatting amicably with professor Oak and Tracey. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what it was.

Later Ash returned home to find his Mom had dinner ready. This time, as they ate Ash took his time and recounted all of his stories to his mom. By time he finished his fourth plate of burgers and fries, his mom was filled in on most of the big events of his journey. As he finished both his dinner, and story time, he noticed that it was 9:30. As soon as he stopped talking he felt a wave of exhaustion from the past week hit him, and decided to go to bed early. He wished his mom a goodnight and headed to bed. He collapsed on his bed with a previously unknown exhaustion, and was asleep within a couple minutes.

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"_Aaaaaash. Aaaaash. ASH!"_ Ash bolted upright in his bed and immediately came face to face with… something. After a second he realized he was staring into a pink face with two large eyes.

"AH!" he yelled and jumped out of bed, and looked at the assassin that attacked him in his sleep. It was a pink cat with big eyes… and a long tail… "MEW! What're you doing here! People might see you and try to catch you! Also why are you in my room? Do you need me?"

"_Don't worry Ash, everyone in town is asleep. It's 3 am and Mewtwo is keeping everyone asleep with his powers."_ Ash's eyes went wide. What were Mew and Mewtwo doing in Pallet Town at 3 am?

_"We came to get you! And before you ask I heard your thought. I'm a psychic pokemon duh. "_ Ash's eyes went even wider. Him? _"Yes you. We need to… borrow… you for a little bit. Nothing dangerous but it's very important to you, mankind, and pokemonkind. Also if your eyes get any wider they'll pop out of their sockets!"_ Mew giggled and did a twirl at that._ "Now wake Pikachu up so we can get this show on the road! Normally he wouldn't come, but you two are inseparable so some rules have been bent."_ Ash was even more confused at this but followed the psychic cats orders and woke his faithful companion.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked groggily as it woke. "… CHUPI!" He exclaimed as he saw Mew hovering there. He instantly became worried as all of his previous concerns came flooding back. Not that he didn't like mew, quite the opposite in fact, but legendary pokemon never meant anything good for the health of his trainer.

_"Yep it's me! Me and Mewtwo have been sent here on orders to come get you two. As we were the first legendaries you met (because you didn't meet ho-oh, you just saw her), it is customary for us to come get you." _Mew finished, leaving a confused rodent rubbing his eyes, and an even more confused human shaking his head. _"Ok, enough delaying let's go!"_

"Wait where are we-" he didn't have time to finish, as Ash suddenly saw his scenery change. He recognized this place… it was the temple on Shamouti Island! "Going. Mew why are we on Shamouti Island?"

_"This is where the prophecy was foretold, where you technically began the journey, even though me and Mewtwo gave you an unfair head start." _The cat stated simply and she casually twirled around. Ash was about to ask another question when he heard a new voice in his head.

_"Do not worry Ash, no harm will befall you or Pikachu on this island only a… commemoration. All of your questions will be answered soon as it is about time to begin."_ Ash whirled around to see…

"Mewtwo? What's going on? Why did I have to leave so suddenly and when will I be able to go back? Is someone hurt? Oh, yeah and I'm glad you're alright. I thought Team Rocket might have found you again."

Mewtwo… chuckled? Does Mewtwo have a sense of humor? He… acknowledged the humor in the rapidity of Ash's questions and the way in which he added his concern as an afterthought… I guess. _"Yes Ash I am fine, and Team Rocket still does not remember my existence. Also, as I said before, all of your questions will be answered in due time. I am glad to see that you are alright as well."_

"Ok… What are we doing anyway? And what is 'the journey' Mew?" Ash asked. Pikachu suddenly perched up on his shoulder as the rodent sensed that something was about to happen. He been letting Ash ask all the questions as he was still waking up, but he snapped up at what he was feeling now. Pokemon are more in-tune with nature and Pikachu was no exception. He could feel a large power descending on them, an unbelievable amount of power which began to surround the temple.

_"Eager to get going Ash? You should be this is a great honor in its own right and with you at the wheel, I feel as though this will prove to be an interesting time ahead of us." _Ash whirled around again (seriously he's going to hurt himself), and saw none other than Lugia descending upon them. Ash was awed, and as he was saying hello, another figure made its appearance. A rainbow bird with a golden crown descended from the night sky, and joined the party. Ash stood in awe of Ho-oh, having only seen the real deal one time, 5 years ago.

_"As we are the highest guardians of this region, we are the ones to welcome you. It is our pleasure to host you in Johto, and the others will join us shortly." _Ho-oh said, in a surprisingly feminine voice… thought… whatever. As he was about to say something Ash was _again_ interrupted by another appearance. Celebi. Another. Entei. Another. Raikou. And finally Suicune. The other Johto legends said hello and welcomed Ash and Pikachu who just stood there awed. _"Ah, the Johto natives are here welcome! The others are but moments behind."_ Said Ho-oh. Not 5 seconds after she said that, Zapdos Articuno and Moltres descended from the sky. Then all hell broke lose. Legendary pokemon popped up left and right or out of the sky. Rayquaza, Darkrai, the three Regis, Groudon, Regigigas, Cresselia, and on and on this went for two solid minutes until finally Dialga Palkia and Giratina all appeared. Ash failed to notice that as they were appearing, they naturally formed a semicircle around the main platform, upon which Lugia and Ho-oh were standing. _"Now we only await one… and so it begins."_ Lugia said after a pause. Suddenly there was a bright light and Arceus himself appeared on the platform, standing in between Ho-oh and Lugia. Ash and Pikachu nearly fainted, and could only stand mouths agape, one in his pajamas, and the other lazily laying on his trainers shoulder. Finally they snapped to their senses and took in what happened.

_"Welcome! This is truly a special occasion. As always, thank you for the hosts of the region, this time being Lugia and Ho-oh, a fine job setting the stage."_ The two powerful legends said their thanks and let Arceus continue. _"Ash, I'm sure you have many question as to what is going on right now, but all will be answered. First and foremost let me explain why you are here and what is going on. _

_ You see, you started your journey to be a master trainer five years ago. But you have done so much more throughout your life than just pokemon training. You may not remember it but four years ago a prophecy declared you 'the chosen one'." _Ash nodded; he remembered, although he thought he had fulfilled that prophecy, and moved on. It would seem that he was wrong. _"This was not a onetime thing. You left this island and went on to save every legendary pokemon's lives with the exception of one or two. There have been few chosen ones throughout history, but none that have done near as much as you have. You not only bring balance to legendary pokemon, but with any pokemon or human you come in contact with. Even Paul, your Sinnoh rival, has softened to some extent after your rivalry. Now onto tonight's events. What we are doing tonight is a rare event that happens in the life of every chosen one. It is the Ceremony of Awakening. Within you is a power which has lied dormant, until you have proven worthy to possess it. You, Ash Ketchum, have proven yourself beyond worthy. You have brought peace to many, shown trust and care in all your pokemon, confronted any foe, no matter how powerful or how evil, and took it upon yourself to safe the world more than once. Just in your last journey through Sinnoh you saved many, myself included. And so we deem you worthy and pure enough to wield this power, this weapon, this tool which will help you shape the world. It is because we know you will not bring harm to others that we allow you this."_

So many question flew through Ash's head right now it began to hurt. Just what was Arceus talking about? He knew he could use aura, but what other power could he have? Nothing he did ever seemed as important as Arceus just made it out to be. Pikachu as well was shocked that his trainer, his pikapi, was worthy of one of the highest honors pokemon could bestow. The Chosen One was a legend that all pokemon knew inherently. A trainer deemed worthy by the legends, the leaders, would be given the power to bring harmony between pokemon and humans. Although Pikachu knew of the Shamouti prophecy, he, like his trainer, thought of it only temporarily and immediately forgot it. It was incredible to think that Ash was worthy of such an honor, and Pikachu was one of the chosen pokemon, obviously a pokemon of a Chosen One. That in itself was a high honor.

_"Ash, your density, a byproduct of your determination, is legendary even throughout pokemon so I will start with the basics."_ Ash would have been offended but was too interested in what he was saying to pay any mind to the insult._ "As the Chosen One, your primary goal will be… nothing. You will simply be yourself. If this sounds confusing, think of it this way: By yourself you bring peace to those around you. Simply continue to do this only with new tools and methods. Reconnect with friends, go on adventures, and continue your dreams. Should the need arise for you to take action, do so like you always would. Remember, this is a reward for all you have done, not an invitation to do something more. Besides, based on your history I am quite sure you will find your own adventures."_

Ash was visibly relieved. "I must admit I'm relieved. I was thinking there would be some dangerous mission that would put me and my friends in danger. No offence, but every time one of you calls me, there is always tons of danger, and I almost die many times. Hell, I even died once when we helped save the tree of beginning after I met Mew." All of the pokemon shifted uncomfortably.

_"Oh yes. Ash… there are other things you should know. Mewtwo and Mew?" _Ash turned to face them.

"Yeah?"

_"Ash there was another time where… well… here."_ And Mewtwo reached forward and unblocked Ash and Pikachu's memory.

"… No… way… I have met you guys before? And not only have I died twice, from Mew both times no less, but Pikachu cried so much it brought me back to life?!" Ash was astonished, astounded, amazed, he was blown away. Such a dramatic part of his life hidden and finally revealed.

"Pikapi!" Ash felt Pikachu reach over and hug his head and press his head against Ash's own and start to sob.

"Come on buddy, its ok. That was a while ago, and I'm fine now. Look, we'll talk about this when we get home, why don't we just hear what Arceus has to say ok? Everything is fine now." Ash took Pikachu into a hug and turned back to Arceus. Pikachu did the same, but not before shooting a glare at Mewtwo and Mew who were understandably uncomfortable. "Anyway Arceus, so what can I do as the Chosen One?"

_"Ah yes, this is the good part. You see, your powers are a creation of the combination of a little bit of every legendary's power, myself included, making these powers ancient, deep, and unable to be copied. You will be able to do things never done before. For instance, one of your main powers is the ability to calm any being. You can obviously see how that coincides with your role as Chosen One, and if you think about it, you have been able to calm many pokemon in the past even without you powers. Just look at how calm Pikachu is now. Now you can do it at will, even on humans." _At this Ash's mind immediately shot through memories of an orange haired girl yelling at him for various reasons. Arceus chuckled, _"Yes even Misty. __Another power which links with your ability to calm others is an empathy ability. You are able to change the feelings of others, but there is some limit on this. You will not be as strong with this as calming. This way you won't send everyone in a two mile radius on a rampage when you and your friends start a debate._ Your next ability is not so much a power as a gift. You will now, for security purposes, be immune to all mental abilities of psychic pokemon and attacks. Obvious we cannot give you all this power, and have someone hypnotizing you into doing their bidding. So nobody with the exception of me, again for security, will be allowed to read your mind or other such tricks. You can even block such attempts on others so as not to let them manipulate your friends. This includes all pokemon's powers, save myself, meaning you can suppress any pokemon's connection to the elemental energy that they can use. Lastly all pokemon, with the exception of me again, will be compelled to listen to you. With any other human this would be disastrous and terrible, but as I have said, you have earned our trust."

Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing, and it was all almost too much. Pikachu was worried as well, but agreed that if any human was to have this power it would most definitely be Ash.

_"There is one more important aspect that I wish to address, and that is the matter of the Chosen Pokemon, or simply any pokemon that comes to know you as its trainer. You see, for the past five years you have been undergoing a test. Every time you went to a new region, the legendary pokemon of that region would observe you. One of the things that was standard when you went to a new region, was that every time you arrived, your pokemon from previous journeys would have their power reduced. This wasn't noticed by you, as you would always choose to form a new team, but do you remember how your pikachu got sick at the beginning of your Hoenn adventure? And how Pikachu, which defeated Regice, was unable to best paul's elekid?" _

Needless to say Ash was furious. "Your telling me that my pokemon should be much stronger than they are! I could have done much better in Hoenn and Sinnoh! And Pikachu needlessly got hurt! Why was it necessary to hurt my pokemon in order to test me!"

_"This is a test that all Chosen Ones must face. It is to determine your adaptability, and determination. You see It is important that the chosen ones be able to handle many types of pokemon, and be able to push forward against all odds. You proved more than able in both, and passed all tests issued by the legends of each region. You even placed well in each regional tournament, despite the handicaps issued. Do not worry Ash, the test is over now. All of your pokemon shall be restored to the power they should have, and more. It is a great honor, well known throughout all species of pokemon, to be one of the chosen pokemon, and that is for a good reason. Each of the chosen pokemon will be able to adapt and get stronger faster. They will also be connected to you, in many ways. You will know where they are at all times, and how they are doing. And, by the simple nature of your powers, your personality, and your connection, you will find that any pokemon you capture will have a strong moral compass if they did not have one already. All of this is for a purpose Ash. It would do no good to have a great and honorable leader, and let him have inept and corruptible warriors."_

Ash, once again, was floored. Sure he was still angry over the lost time with his pokemon, especially Pikachu, but it was all for a purpose. Now he would always be able to keep a close eye on them and make sure they are safe. And not to mention the training! They would all get stronger faster?! '_Oh, yeah_' Ash thought, _'I could get used to this.'_

"Wow, thank you. This is all too much to take in. And I'm sorry for being so angry, I see now that it was done with good intentions."

_"Of course, your anger was to be expected Ash. There is a slight… issue however. You see as we have not had a Chosen One who is also an Aura Guardian, we don't know how the two powers inside of you will manifest themselves as a whole. Mewtwo has strong theories that suggest that the ability of Aura Guardians to sense the minds of others may be amplified by your abilities to command pokemon. To be safe let me simply say that in the future, after training your aura, you may find yourself with more at your disposal than you thought. Please use all of this knowledge wisely. You are meant to defend the world, not destroy it. The last thing this world needs is another villain. Are you ready to accept your role in the world Ash Ketchum?"_

He took a second to think and look around. Was he ready for this? Sure he wanted this, who wouldn't, but did he deserve it? As he looked around he remembered all the times he and his friends were in danger or hurt, and how these powers could help them should the need ever arise. He didn't think he was so pure, but everyone else did, and he accepted their opinion. It was decided then.

"I am, and I promise I will not abuse the trust you have in me. I understand this is a great honor and am prepared to accept what needs to be done. I Ash Ketchum, master trainer, am ready to be the Chosen One." At this all the pokemon smiled, Pikachu included.

_"Very well Ash, let it begin."_ All the pokemon present, save for Pikachu, closed their eyes and focused on Ash. Ash felt a large wave of power flow over him, and he began to feel calm and peaceful. He had no choice but to let the wave wash over him, as though he were a fish in a tsunami. He felt it get stronger and stronger and as he was about to pass out he opened his eyes.

He was in his room back in pallet town, lying on his bed. He glanced over at the clock. 4:55 AM it read, and Ash just laid back and looked at the ceiling. He then noticed Pikachu staring at him out of the corner of his eye. The mouse understood now what had been bothering it. His trainer was the Chosen One! Pikapi would do many great things, he decided. And he was a Chosen Pokemon! How awesome is that?!

Ash picked it up in a hug and said "I'm sorry about all this Pikachu. I'm especially sorry about what happened between Mew and Mewtwo. I'll never do something like that again. Hopefully with these new powers we won't be in as much danger as we normally are." As Ash said that Pikachu felt perfectly calm in his trainers arms and began to drift to sleep. With a yawn Ash said "You'll always be my best buddy Pikachu, and tomorrow we'll figure out exactly what the hell just happened, but for now let's just get some sleep." Pikachu was already out, and soon Ash was too.

_"You'll make a great chosen one Ash I just know it. Hopefully we'll see each other soon, but for now get some rest. You deserve it."_ The pink cat turned and flew away, content with the changes taking place in the world.

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**Yeeeeeaaaaaahh! chap 1 of fanfic 1 done. Thanks for reading! Or skimming. Or glancing at it and hitting the back arrow. Tell me what you think! I could use any and all help, and any reviews are appreciated. Unfortunately I also have college to deal with right now so updates may be slow but it wont be too long before chapter 2 is up. Lastly, my old title for this fic was The Chosen One Awakens, however there is another fic with almost the exact same name! So I changed it. If you have a better title, please suggest it, as this one doesn't feel as good as The Chosen One Awakens. Well I guess that's all for now. See ya!**


	2. Regrouping

**All right here's Chapter 2! Lets get some things straightened up first though.  
1. There will be no Unova. It's not that I don't like 5th gen, or that I dont like Unova, or Iris, or Cilan, Its that I simply don't know enough to write about it.**

**2. As the story is now there is no shipping. I probably could write a shipping in there, but as of now it is a no. If enough people want a shipping I will put one in, but it will be Advance or Poke, both of which are my favorites. Also I may put onesided shippings in but as of now I have no clue if I will or not.**

**3. As a general rule of thumb if enough people want something I will give it too them. This story is not set in stone and I have no problem making changes, so please request something if you want it.**

**4. Updates shouldn't be too slow but I am a college student. Be patient.**

**5. Lastly, this chapter isn't too amazing, but it has a lot of necessary parts, and needed to be done in order to get to the good stuff.**

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"Ash Ketchum, get out of bed right now!" Ash rolled over at the sound of his mothers wake up call, to find her standing in his doorway. "It is 10:30 in the morning, and I have been yelling up at you for the past five minutes! How in the world could you sleep for thirteen hours?"

"Sorry mom, I…uh… was exhausted from yesterday, and uh, I guess I just overslept?" Ash replied, hoping she would accept his flimsy excuse.

"Ok, I know you like to sleep, but why isn't Pikachu up?" Delia asked, studying him critically.

"Oh, um, uh… we battled like ten trainers on our way home so I guess he was really tired too." She studied him for a second, looking for any trace of a lie then smiled brightly.

"Ok, well pancakes are on the counter if you want some. I made bacon and sausage as well, but they might be cold by now. I'm going over to the new poke-mart for a while, and will be back later. Have fun!" She left the room, and Ash let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. The last thing he needed was to accidentally tell her he got kidnapped in the middle of the night by all of the legendary pokemon in the world, then given an unfathomable amount of power, and finally dropped back in his bed. Even Arceus would be given a scolding for that one.

_'All in due time,'_ Ash decided, _'That isn't something I can just drop on her. 'Oh yeah mom, I'm kind of the guardian of all peace between pokemon and humans in the world, now. I just thought you should know, in case you wanted to worry even more when I'm out by myself on my journeys.' _Ash sighed, and turned towards his sleeping starter.

"Hey, Pikachu wake up, it's time for breakfast." He said, gently shaking the mouse. It rolled over then resumed its quiet snoring. Ash gave up and picked Pikachu up. He knew that the smell of pancakes would be too great to resist, as pancakes with ketchup was one of the pokemon's favorite ways to start the day. Ash set him down on the table, and made himself a plate of pancakes with syrup on top. He also got a plate of plain ones, and brought the plates and ketchup bottle to the table. Sure enough, as soon as he set the food down Pikachu began sniffing around. It slowly opened its eyes and then…

"PIKA! Pikaka pi pichu! (HELL YEAH! Pancakes and ketchup!)" It grabbed the bottle and drew a thick line of ketchup down the middle of the pancake. He then rolled it up like a burrito like Ash showed him one time, and began to destroy the stack. Ash chuckled as he watched his best friend eat, and then paused in the middle of taking a bite.

"Pikachu, repeat what you said."

"Pikaka pi pichu? (Pancakes and ketchup?)" He said with a mouthful of pancake as he tilted his head curiously towards his trainer.

_'That's strange'_ Ash thought. "Say something else."

"Pikapi pi chuchu pi pika pikachu chu pika pika. (Ash is a dumbass for interrupting Pikachu's delicious breakfast for stupid requests.)" Ash frowned.

"I know I asked you to say something, but did it have to be that? Anyway I think Arceus connected us in more ways than we thought. I can understand what you are saying! And not like normally, it's like I hear your voice but understand it as human speech!" Ash said excitedly. Pikachu looked shocked at this.

"Oh my Arceus, that actually happened! I thought that was all a dream! That's amazing! You're the Chosen One! My trainer is the Chosen One! That makes me a Chosen Pokemon! And you can understand me now?! YES!" Pikachu was ecstatic. He tackled Ash in a hug, and immediately bounced back on the table. "We have to tell the others! They probably already know because they'll feel your connection, but let's go tell them right now! And think of the battling! Gary's umbreon can suck it! And so can his and Paul's electivire! Ash lets go tell everyone right now!"

Ash laughed and said "Hold on Pikachu! We can't just go tell everyone." Pikachu looked up at his trainer wondering why in _the world_, they weren't already on national news by now. "People like Team Rocket, Magma, Aqua, and Galactic will come after us. Not to mention the paparazzi. And if Buneary caught wind of this, she'll never leave your sight." Pikachu paled at this, and realized Ash was right. Unfortunately, however, Buneary was unavoidable…

"Sorry Ash, but I will just have to live with that. You see _all_ pokemon know the legend of the Chosen One. They will all recognize you, and your pokemon, on sight, so she will know who we are when sees me." Pikachu sat down and slumped, depressed by the thought. Then, like magic he snapped back up. "But the only reason I'm in the position is because I'm a CHOSEN POKEMON!" Pikachu threw his arms up in victory.

Ash chuckled and resumed his breakfast. "Alright buddy, finish your pancakes and we'll go to the lab to tell the others." Pikachu ate faster than possible and after Ash got dressed and left a note to his mom, the two were off to the lab. As they walked through the streets of Pallet Town, Ash and Pikachu talked about anything and everything, excited to be able to finally breach the last of the language barrier. Soon they were at Oak's lab, and after a quick greeting to Tracy and Professor Oak, Ash took off into the ranch.

He quickly found that he could understand all pokemon speech now. As he wandered through the ranch looking for his group, every pokemon stared at him and Pikachu, muttering 'Chosen One' or things of that nature. Even though he felt as though he was going in a random direction, he felt like something in the back of his mind was pushing him towards a lake through the woods. Sure enough as he stepped through the woods, and there was his group of pokemon lounging by the lake.

"Hey guys I'm back! How's it-" he couldn't finish as he was immediately blitzed by Bayleef on the left.

"Ash I'm so happy you're here, I missed you since yesterday, and I was… wait. No. Way. I thought I felt something different! You're the Chosen One!" Ash simply nodded as he watched Bayleef go into an energetic frenzy similar to Pikachu's earlier. They wandered over to the others and after looking over at Ash, and a still excited Bayleef and Pikachu, their mouths dropped.

"Ash… no way" Bulbasaur said, with the others saying similar things. Ash called them over (even Snorlax who was luckily awake right now) and after several minutes of Ash letting them celebrate, he began his story. And for the next couple hours he went through a play-by-play, with Pikachu pitching in every now and then. They were completely engrossed, and as the story came to a close they just sat there wide eyed and silent.

"You know what this calls for?" Ash's Tauros (the main one) asked. "STAMPEDE!" the others called out and off they went. Ash and the others sweatdropped.

"Do they always do that?" Ash asked, and got a reply of a chorus of 'yes' from his pokemon.

"I thought this might have happened!" Quilava said, "I could feel some kind of connection from you, and felt like you were coming here. I just couldn't believe that my trainer was the Chosen One!" The others agreed saying they felt about the same. "Have you tried anything besides talking to us?" All of the pokemon awaited his answer eagerly.

"No, not yet, but I have been wanting to try something."

"What?"

"Well, Arceus said that you all were restored to how you should be. I wanted to do some training and see how powerful you all really are." Everyone seemed excited at that, and Ash watched as they all demonstrated moves. Everyone was certainly stronger, especially his older pokemon, but there was one in particular…

"Ok Pikachu use thunderbolt on that rock!"

"THUNDER-BOLT!" Pikachu yelled, and unleashed hell upon the poor helpless boulder. It exploded violently, and sent shards in every direction. All the pokemon near the lake, including Ash's, stared at the mouse that was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Wow. Just… wow. I guess Pikachu has been with me to every region but… wow." Ash said as he looked at what was once a boulder, and was now barely rubble. Finally realizing what just happened Ash picked up Pikachu, and said "That was unbelievable, who knew you had so much power in you! And people were amazed at how powerful you were before, wait until they see you now." Content with his trainer's praise, Pikachu settled onto Ash's shoulder and waited to see what he wanted to do now.

"That was amazing guys! All of you were incredible. I can't believe how much stronger you all are, and based on what Arceus said, you will stronger pretty quickly. Now with that done, there is one other thing I wanted to try, but I need a volunteer…" Ash said as he looked towards his pokemon. They all shot their hands/paws up, excited to help their trainer out.

"Bulbasaur, you'll be perfect!" Ash said, and Bulbasaur walked up to him waiting to see what he wanted to do. Ash racked his brain trying to find something, _anything_, to help him. Suddenly he found it. It was like a mental trail leading from him to all of the pokemon in the area, and ash he followed it, he focused on Bulbasaur. He put his willpower into that trail and tried to manipulate it how he wanted. He wasn't sure it was working until…

"Are you just going to stand there all damn day, or are you going to tell what it is you want!" Bulbasaur yelled. All the pokemon gasped, but Ash smiled which confused the previously enraged grass-type. All of his pokemon looked at him, awaiting an explanation.

"I can't believe it worked! Sorry Bulbasaur, let me explain. Arceus said I could manipulate other being's feelings. So, since you are normally very patient and diplomatic, I was trying to piss you off. It looks like it worked too. Trust me I won't do that too often, I'm sure you don't like having your feeling controlled, but you were the perfect pokemon to help me out Bulbasaur." All of his were amazed. He told them earlier in his explanation, but seeing him do it was a different story.

"I felt like that was completely my own doing though. You were just sitting there, and I was getting so angry. You weren't moving or saying anything, and I thought you wanted my help, so I just snapped. I guess that's how it works though." Bulbasaur said.

It was then that Ash checked the time. "Ok guys I've been here for a while now, and I need to go take care of some things." All of his pokemon groaned at this and Ash said "I know, but what I need to do is very important. Don't worry, I'll still be here tomorrow." He then turned around and went into the lab.

"Professor Oak?" Ash called.

"In here, Ash!" he heard, coming from upstairs, followed by some banging noises. He went upstairs to find professor Oak wrestling with the three Kanto starters, trying to get them back in their pokeballs. A Charmander ran beneath his legs and saw Ash. The three stopped fighting and looked with wide eyes at Ash. Professor Oak took advantage of the cease fire to recapture them. He then looked at Ash.

"Why were they staring at you Ash?" professor Oak asked.

"I'm not sure professor," Ash lied, "but I came to ask you something. Why can we only carry six pokemon at a time?"

"You can only carry six because you are a minor Ash. Obviously people who own many pokemon have all of them at their house, or gym or in the frontier brains' case, their different battle arenas. If you want to carry more than six you have to grow up." Ash sighed. "OR", professor Oak continued, smiling, "get special approval from your regional professor. And since I happen to think that you could handle more than six, I would be willing to remove the limit for you Ash." Ash was excited after hearing that. Finally! He could bring everyone with him. After filling out some paperwork, and giving the professor his thanks, ash headed back out into the ranch.

"Everyone come here for a minute!" This time he sent the message over his link as well, and all of his pokemon were there within a minute, most wondering why he was back. "I have a special announcement. Professor Oak removed the limit on how many pokemon I could hold. I can bring all of you with me now!" They all cheered and Ash called them all into their balls, with the exception of 29 of the thirty Tauros. "Now just one more thi-"

"Ash you have a phone call!" Tracey yelled out to Ash. "It's Liza from the Charicific Valley!"

"Talk about irony." Ash said as he went inside, and picked up the phone to the videophone. Liza looked distressed, and Ash instantly shot up and looked at her. "What's wrong Liza, I was just about to call you?"

"Ash, I'm sorry but I can't find your Charizard. Something weird happened to him, this morning. He appeared to be much stronger, and easily defeated even the strongest Charizard in the valley. After he was done he took off, and hasn't returned. It looked like he was heading east, so I think he is heading to you, but I can't be sure. Please let me know if he turns up, I don't want this on my conscience."

"No problem Liza. And I think you're right," Ash knew she was right, but there was no reason to tell her, "If he gets here I'll let you know."

"Thanks Ash, and sorry about all this."

"Don't worry about it it's not your fault. I'll keep my eye out for him." Ash hung up and reached out across the link that he shares with all of his pokemon. Sure enough, there was Charizard about 20 miles away, about halfway between the Tohjo Falls, and Pallet Town. Ash ran out and started to head home. He got there in 15 minutes and sat on his front porch. Sure enough in a couple minutes, there was a shadow above the tree-line, slowly making itself more defined. Ash watched Charizard swoop overhead and release a roar, and then circle around and land in front of Ash. Pikachu hopped off of Ash's shoulder as he ran up and hugged Charizard, only to be hit by a flamethrower.

"Good to see you too- *cough*- Charizard. I guess you pretty much know what's going on, judging by what you did in the Charicific Valley?" Charizard nodded. Ash and Pikachu caught him up on what happened in detail, and what they have been doing all day. Ash found that Charizard was not a man of many words. He rarely commented, and when he did it was short and to the point. He also found that Charizard after the power boost (which he was ecstatic about), was tremendously powerful. He melted a boulder in ten seconds flat! He came back because he felt the new link with Ash, and between that and the power boost, he could tell what had happened. So he rejoined Ash on his journey (or break for now).

After catching up with one of his oldest friends, Ash went back inside to eat dinner and to ponder what he was going to do for his next journey. He then called Liza and let her know that Charizard arrived alright. He also talked with his mom about what each did that day (the new poke-mart had some great gardening supplies, apparently), and soon went to his room. After 20 minutes of talking to Pikachu, Ash still had no idea what he was going to do, so he decided a walk would help him clear his head.

"The night sure is clear tonight, huh buddy?" Ash said to his starter, as they looked at the sky. After 45 minutes of walking, they had found their way onto a cliff by the sea which was to the south of Pallet Town. He gazed up at the stars and remembered all of the good times he had with his friends. He also wondered about his future, and what his friends were doing now. Pikachu just laid there, curled up on his trainers lap, content to let the rhetorical question hang there. Sadly such peace is never meant to last.

_"BOO!"_

"AHHH!" Both Ash and Pikachu yelled. They whipped around only to find that same damned pink cat that disturbed their peace last night, giggling and floating by Ash's head. "Mew, you scared me to death!" Ash said. "What is it now?" At this mew became uncharacteristically nervous.

_"Well, uh, I came because I have a favor to ask."_ Mew said while avoiding Ash's gaze.

"What now?" Ash asked, already preparing himself for something epic.

_"Um, I happen to know that you haven't got any plans as of yet." _Mew said, still nervous.

"Yeah, I was out here trying to figure out what to do. Why does Arceus need me? I thought he said I wouldn't have any big mission."

_"No he doesn't. But I just wanted to tell you that I know of a tournament that the League is going to put on at the Indigo Plateau. It's not for another six months so you have time to train and get a team together."_

"What, that's awesome! That's exactly what I needed. The only other idea I had was to re-challenge the indigo league, which would be boring, and probably pretty easy, considering the power boost everyone got. What kind of tournament is it?"

_"This one's being put on by Charles Goodshow, the head of the league, so it's inter-regional. The league figured with training becoming so popular they need a higher class of tournament then just the standard ones, so this will be a test tournament. Any trainers that haven't placed in top four or higher can't even apply. Also the gym leaders are competing, and so are the elite four and the champions. If you submit your application I'm positive they will accept you."_

"Whoa, that's pretty intense, but that's exactly what I need! I had no clue what to do until you told me that, so thank you Mew! How can I repay you?"

After Ash said that, Mew got really nervous. How was she supposed to ask what she wanted to ask? _"Mhk mm mhf moo." _Mew said quietly.

"What? I can't here you. Speak…er…think louder." Ash said, wondering why Mew was so nervous.

_"Can you take me with you!? I want to be a part of your team. I talked to Arceus and he said it was fine, and I wanna see the world, and I wanna battle, and as the Chosen One it would be an honor to be on your team! Please don't say no."_ Mew pleaded while turning away. She wanted to transform into a rock so badly right then. Each second felt like a year.

Ash and Pikachu laughed. They _laughed_ at her. The bastards. _"Why are you laughing?"_ Mew demanded.

"It's just that you were so nervous." Ash said still chuckling.

_"Of course I am. You're the Chosen One. And you just got reacquainted with all your other pokemon, so why would you let me, someone who's killed you twice, on your team?"_ Mew said, practically yelling at Ash.

"Mew, of course you can come. You're a legendary pokemon! I would be an idiot to say no. But more importantly, to me anyway, you've got a good personality. I mean, any other legendary that wanted to be on my team would have practically demanded it. And here you were, _begging_ me to come along. Not only that but everything about you is perfect for my style of battle. Your strength, your size, your speed, your moveset. Mew it would be an honor to have you on my team." Ash said, still smiling. Mew just stared back at them, unable to process what he just said. Here she was pleading with the Chosen One to be one of his pokemon, and he said it would be an _honor_ to have _her_ on the team? Finally she flew up and hugged him.

_"Thank you! I promise I will do my best, and everything you tell me, and I won't let you down master!"_ She let go of him and twirled through the air. Mew was ecstatic! She was a Chosen Pokemon! Well not yet but soon anyway. And she would get to travel and battle and see all kinds of things. Having a trainer was weird and it would take a little to get used to but-

"Wait, what? Master? Just call me Ash, Mew, no need to call me 'master'." She turned around to see Ash scratching the back of his head, and Pikachu rolling across the ground laughing.

_"But you're my trainer, and I thought that meant I'm supposed to do what you tell me to, right? That makes you my master." _By now Pikachu thought he was going to blow a lung from laughing so hard. Tears were streaming down the pokemon's face as he tried to get a grip on himself.

"Look Mew, just do what I ask in battle and training and that's all." Ash said, embarrassed. "Pikachu doesn't do half of what I tell him, and once he gets his hands on ketchup he's his own pokemon. Charizard hits me with a flamethrower every time I see him. Look, My point is, were a team and I'm not your master. You might have seen other people act like that, but as long as you're with me we are friends, and I'm not your master." Mew stared, dumbfounded _again._ Why was this kid so nice?

She hugged him again and said _"That's part of why I was nervous! I've never had a trainer before, and didn't know what to expect. I thought that I was going to have to give up my free will. I felt I owed you after killing you, and after you found out about me and Mewtwo, so it was worth it. So what happens now? Do you have to fight me?"_

"Do you want to fight me?"

_"No…"_

"Well there you go. As long as you are willing to come with me, I don't have to fight you." As he said this he held out a pokeball. "If you are ready, all you have to do is press the middle button." Mew reached out and touched the pokeball, and was sucked inside. After a second, a ding was heard and the pokeball settled into his hand.

"Excellent catch, master!" Pikachu said and then cracked up.

"Hey, Mew didn't know any better!" Ash said.

"You're right, sorry about that… master." Ash threw the pokeball and released mew.

"How was it?" Ash asked, now feeling the connection to Mew, which was deep. Whether it was because she was a legendary, or a psychic pokemon, or some combination of the two, he didn't know.

_"It was alright. I was scared for a little bit."_

"You can stay out of your pokeball sometimes, if you want, but since you're so rare I don't want anyone to try and steal you so near cities and things like that I will call you back, ok?

_"Ok!"_ Mew chirped, excited to have such a flexible trainer.

"Now then let's head back, it's pretty late and I'm sure my mom is worried." Ash started walking towards his house, and after about three steps he reached his back door. "Mew, a little warning before you teleport us next time? Someone could have seen us. But, thank you, you just saved us 45 minutes of walking. Also, we need to hide you so my mom doesn't see you. Just teleport to my room and I'll be there in a second."

_"Ok" _and she was gone. Ash went inside to find his mom watching TV.

"Ash, you were gone for 3 hours! Its 11:00, where were you!" His mom asked, glaring down at the young trainer.

"I was on a walk trying to figure out what to do next! I'm going to a tournament at the Indigo Plateau, and I'm going to spend the next few months training for it." Ash said, trying to divert the conversation.

"Well I'm glad honey," his mom said, "but you should have come home earlier." Ash sighed. He just nodded and went upstairs to his room only to find it empty.

_'Huh, I wonder where mew got to,' _Ash thought. _'Duh,'_ he thought _'were connected.' _He concentrated for a second and found her hiding under his bed. "Mew you can come on out," he said, looking at where she was hiding. She flew out and around his head and floated in front of him. "Do you want to sleep in or out of your pokeball?" Ash asked.

_"Out, please!"_

"Ok, just make sure my mom doesn't catch you in the morning. Also know that you can't sleep out of it in crowded areas."

_"Ok, Ash!"_ The trainer got changed, and went through his nightly routine and plopped down on his bed exhausted. The past 24 hours felt like a week to him, and he quickly passed out.

_"Is he always so nice?" _Mew asked Pikachu as they curled up next to the sleeping trainer.

"Yeah, you're going to love being part of the team. We meet all kinds of cool people and pokemon, and you'll love his friends. Especially Brock and his cooking. We do a lot of training, but we screw around just as much. Also battling in tournaments and leagues is a blast. You'll be nervous at first but having 60,000 people cheering you on gets you fired up like nothing else."

_"That sounds amazing!" _Mew said. _"I've always wanted to try official battling, but I've always been to scared to get a trainer."_

"Well, Ash is as good as they come, and he will do some amazing stuff on the battlefield that will blow your mind. This one time, he had Charizard melt the entire field to beat his rival's Blastoise. _Charizard_ _melted the damn field and beat a Blastoise._ A very powerful one at that. How awesome is that?"

_"That's incredible! I can't wait to get going now!"_

"Yeah," Pikachu yawned, "It's fun and stuff, but I'll give you one warning."

_"And that is…"_

"Don't get on Charizard's bad side." And with that Pikachu drifted off to sleep, leaving a tired Mew to wonder just how powerful Charizard really was.

* * *

**Haha whoops. I think i got stuck on Mew for too long, but she was really fun to write, and I think I wrote her fairly well. Also even though Mew is cute and cuddly, Ash will most definitely be getting some badass pokemon. I've already got a pseudo-legendary on deck, and another legendary somewhere around there. Pitch me ideas for individual pokemon, whole teams, whatever. If you want to see it in the story throw it to me. Also I think he's getting a visit tomorrow, and I know he kicks off his adventure next chapter.**

**Anyways, tell me how I did! It's my first fanfic so I need all the help I can get. Reviews! I want them.**


	3. Beginning

**Alright ladies and gents welcome to chapter three of Ash's Reward. First let me address a couple of things. Numero Uno: I noticed a lot of you are on the same thought train as me, so you should enjoy how this story unfolds. Secondly all info on shippings is at the end of this chapter. Thirdly, Ash will have a long story. If you don't see something specific now (pokemon, events, people etc.), it may happen later.**

**That concludes our introductory author's note. Please enjoy the feature presentation.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I don't own pokemon.

Ash Ketchum slowly roused himself from sleep, being careful not to stir the two companions lying at the foot of his bed. Wait, I couldn't have written that right. No legendaries waking him up? His mom wasn't barging in, and yelling at him? Was this the 'normal morning' he had heard of in myths and legends?

_"Where the hell am I?!" _Mew yelled as she woke up, shooting off into the air. Ash sighed. He could only hope Mew didn't project her thoughts loud eno- _'And there it is.'_ Ash thought, as he heard a scream come from downstairs.

"Mew calm down! You're in my room, remember last night?" Ash said as he willed her to calm down. Surprisingly, it worked and Mew visibly relaxed. _'Oh yeah that's one of my powers isn't it?'_ Ash remembered as he looked at the now peaceful Mew.

_"Oh yeah,"_ Mew giggled,_ "Sorry Ash. That's the first time in a while I have woken up outside the Tree of Beginning." _Mew said as she twirled around and landed back on the bed. Pikachu was now awake, and was about to ask what was going on when the question was asked for him.

"Ash Ketchum, what in the world is going on?! I heard someone scream. In my head! I know I'm not crazy, that was a psychic pokemon! Now you had better start-" Ash's mother said as she came through his doorway. She came to an abrupt halt, however, when she saw a legendary pink cat sitting on Ash's bed looking up at her. "Ash, why is there a Mew in your room?" Delia looked at one of the pokemon, that in all her years as a trainer (albeit retired now), she _never_ thought she would see.

"Mom, just calm down for a second." Ash said, willing her to calm down. He still didn't know exactly how to trigger the power, so he just put some willpower into it and hoped it worked. His mother relaxed, just as Mew had. "I'll explain it to you in a little bit, but first let me get dressed, and get Mew taken care of."

"Ok honey, but I want the full explanation." His mom said, as she turned to go back downstairs. Ash got dressed and made sure Mew was ok before he and his two pokemon headed downstairs. As he told Pikachu what happened, he couldn't help but see the irony that his one condition for Mew sleeping outside her pokeball ("Don't let my mom catch you in the morning."), had been broken within five seconds of her being awake. They all sat down as his mom handed them their food. Mew looked curiously at the pokemon food, and Ash would have laughed if he wasn't about to tell his mom one of his deepest secrets.

"Now start talking young man." And he did. He told her all that had happened, and why. He left out Mew's dialogue from the night before, however, to save the legend some embarrassment. Ash's mom listened with rapt attention, reacting at all the right times and drilling enough questions into the poor boy's head to fill a book. His pokemon were long done eating and were listening to him recount the story quietly. Mew was sitting on the table letting Ash's mom pet it absentmindedly, as she listened to Ash. As he finished talking, his mom sat there awed, trying to digest it all. "Wait a second. Did you use your powers on me earlier?" Ash nodded looking down at the table. "Well, I would be mad but it actually felt kind of good. It was like… a mental massage." Ash looked up at that. He had wondered what it was like to be forced to calm down. He figured that if somebody tried it, it would only make the victim more anxious but apparently it didn't. "My son has super powers, who would have thought? And an adorable pokemon like Mew? I must say, I am jealous." Delia said to herself as she started cleaning the table. "Anyways, what are you going to do now, oh Chosen One?" she giggled to herself. "Didn't you say something about a tournament?"

"Yeah, I'm going to compete in some inter-regional tournament that the League is throwing. It is only for advanced trainers, and I'm going over to professor Oak's lab to submit my application later. It's not for another six months or so, so I'll be training until then." Ash said as he stood to go upstairs. His mother had taken all of this pretty well, which isn't too hard, he supposed, when she spent the last five years listening to him tell stories of getting involved in criminal organizations, and almost all of the legendary pokemon. He gathered his pokemon and his bag and went back downstairs to tell his mom goodbye.

"Goodbye Ash, and be safe. There are lots of people in this world that will try and use you once they figure out who and what you are. You're a great trainer and I know you will be alright, but I still worry about you. And Ash?"

"Yeah mom?"

"I know I already told you, but don't forget to change your you-know what every-"

"MOM! I know. I'm fifteen years old! I'll be fine, and I'll see you at the tournament." Ash put Mew back in the pokeball and left, with his mom waving goodbye on the porch of his house. As he headed towards the lab, he couldn't help but feel relieved that his mom knew his secret and was ok with it. _'I guess it's better that she found out now, instead of on the news or something, especially since I was there to calm her down and explain. I suppose I have to tell professor Oak now too, since he will be taking care of all of my pokemon.'_ Ash mused as he walked down the street. He walked up to the door of the lab and knocked, patiently waiting for someone to answer.

"Oh, hey Ash, you here to start another adventure?" Tracy asked as he opened the door.

"What? How did you know that?" Ash said, thinking his friend was psychic now. Tracy laughed.

"Ash the only times you come by are for two reasons. You come to see your pokemon, which you already did, and you come to kick off your next journey. Where are you going now?"

"There's actually another reason why I'm here, but I'll explain when we see professor Oak. It'll save me from saying it twice." Tracy showed Ash in, and took him upstairs to see the professor, who was wrestling with the starters _again._ Ash laughed and the pokemon stared up at him again.

"Chosen One!" They all ran up and hugged his legs, almost knocking the boy over, to the amusement of Pikachu who was laughing at Ash's misfortune. Pikachu hopped down off of Ash's shoulder, and discovered that was a bad idea. "And one of his Chosen Pokemon, wow!" Charmander yelled, and the three attacked Pikachu. The electric mouse took to the fetal position and waited out the storm. After about 50 questions were thrown at the poor mouse, the pokemon were recalled by the professor, leaving a traumatized Pikachu, and a cachinnating (**A/N** I was determined to use this word today) Ash.

"Ash, why do they always react whenever they see you?" Professor Oak said, as he studied the trainer, as though he were under a microscope.

"Actually that's what I wanted to come to talk to you about." He said, as he sat down on a nearby couch. "You might want to sit down professor, this might take a while."

As a pokemon researcher, it had always been Samuel Oak's dream to have the opportunity to study a legendary pokemon. He had been fortunate enough in his life to see a celebi when he was young, but now there was a young man in front of him claiming things that he had never thought possible. If he hadn't heard Ash's stories of legendary pokemon before, he would never have believed the boy in front of him. By the time the young trainer was finished retelling his tale the old professor was bouncing off of the walls with the energy of a much younger man.

"So that's why the pokemon were all looking at you funny! Hehe, I knew something was up! Can I see it Ash! Can I see Mew? Please!" Professor Oak was begging the poor boy. Tracey was amazed as well, but couldn't get a word in edgewise with the professor interrogating Ash. He had heard the prophecy, and seen Ash fulfill it up close, but like Ash he thought that was the end of the story. It seemed he was wrong, however.

"Fine professor, but no tests!" Ash said, reaching for the pokeball. The professor gasped. That was like asking Brock to not hit on a girl; it was simply an outrageous proposal! But the old man would take what he could get and nodded to Ash. He and Tracy watched with anticipation as Ash let out the ancient legendary.

"Mew?" the cat asked as it was let out. _"What's up everyone? Why are you all looking at me like that? Ash, what's going on?"_ Mew looked over to see her trainer chuckling at the awestruck professor and his assistant.

"They're just excited to see you Mew, that's all. This is professor Oak, and my good friend Tracey." The two snapped out of it and started bombarding questions towards the helpless pokemon. Ok so she wasn't _really_ helpless, as she picked them up with a psychic, and set them back down on the couches. She then flew over to Ash and settled on his shoulder opposite from Pikachu.

"Ok, maybe we got a bit excited, but that's amazing Ash!" Tracy said.

"I would agree with Tracy, Ash. I can't believe I got to see a Mew!" The professor said.

"Yeah Mew's awesome and my story's incredible, but there is another reason I'm here." Ash explained. "I want to sign up for the inter-regional tournament that they are hosting in six months. Mew told me about it and I want to sign up."

"Ah, you mean the Master's Tournament? It hasn't been made public yet, so I'm surprised you want to sign up this early. The league just threw the meeting two weeks ago to decide on a name, so I doubt they are ready to accept applications, even directly from professors. I guess we could fill out the paperwork, and when the time comes I will submit your application, ok?"

"That sounds good professor. I just needed to make sure you know of my situation before I left for my journey. I'm probably going to meet a lot of new pokemon and I didn't want you freaking out when you saw them. Also I'm leaving a little over half of my original team here."

"Why, Ash? I raised your limit."

"Yeah but I can't afford to take care of that many at once, so before I leave I will be dropping off a bunch of my pokemon." The professor nodded at this and the two went off to do paperwork after Ash had recalled Mew. Tracy went back downstairs to organize the lab, and to put the starters back. After they were done, and professor Oak promised his secrecy on the subject, Ash went out to the ranch, and let everyone out.

"Hey everyone, I have something to say. I simply can't afford to take all of you with me." At this, all of the pokemon groaned. "I know, I know, but I just can't do it. First of all, is there anyone who would like to stay here? Everyone will get to battle at some point, so staying here isn't permanent." Muk and Tauros both volunteered. "Ok, I guess I still have a long way to go, but thank you guys." Ash quietly thought for a minute, with his pokemon watching intently. "Ok here is who is staying at the lab. Kingler, Heracross, Donphan, Corphish, Torkoal, Glalie, Staraptor, Infernape, and Torterra. Everyone else come on back." Ash recalled his pokemon and looked at the ones that were still out. "Sorry guys, but like I said you will all get to battle so don't worry." With that his pokemon dispersed around the ranch, and Ash headed back to the lab, only to be stopped.

"Hey Ashy-boy, did you think you were going somewhere without getting your ass kicked first? I thought that was how you liked to start all your journeys." Ash knew that voice. He still hated that voice. He turned around to find none other than Gary Oak.

"Hey Gary, I thought you were still in Sinnoh?" Even though they were somewhat friends after the Silver Conference, Gary would always be Ash's true rival. And now was no exception.

"I happened to be on break to present my research to gramps, not that _you_ would know anything of the scientific community, Ash. I would be surprised if you even knew how to spell research." That pissed Ash off like nothing else could. "Anyways, since I was in town, I figured I would stop by for a quick ass whooping. Just like old times." Ash smirked. _'Well, someone around here will be getting an ass whooping for sure Gary, but not me. This will be fun.'_

"Alright Gary, but I don't have all day so let's hurry this up." Gary was surprised at Ash's confidence. Usually he was just an uncontrollable ball of rage when it came to their battles, but now it looked like he knew he would win. _'Like hell he will.'_ Gary thought.

"Alright Ash, one on one?"

"Sounds good." They took their respective sides of the field they were using to battle in, and stared each other down. "Ok let's get started. Pikachu, I choose you buddy." Pikachu took his side of the field, just as excited as Ash was to get a little revenge.

"Pikachu eh? How about an old friend then. Umbreon, let's go!" Gary threw the pokeball and out came on one of his best pokemon. As it took in its surroundings a look of surprise crossed its face as it saw Ash and Pikachu.

"No… you are the Chosen? Amazing. Forgive me, for battling you, but you know Gary is my trainer and friend." Umbreon, much to the surprise of Gary, gave Ash and Pikachu a short bow, and resumed its stance. Ash and Pikachu gave a curt nod of understanding.

"…Anyways Umbreon, use double team!" Umbreon focused, and soon clones of the pokemon were littering the field.

"Pikachu use agility and quick attack to hit them all!" Pikachu shot off, and zig-zagged through the clones at lighting speeds, eventually nailing the real thing.

"Umbreon fire a close range shadow ball!" Umbreon charged a shadow ball, and shot it at the mouse.

"Pikachu dodge and use volt tackle!" Pikachu only barely dodged the shadow ball, and began charging the dark type. Electricity began to crackle off of its body as it approached its target. Gary watched and smirked.

"Umbreon, use reflect!" The dark type raised a psychic shield to prevent Pikachu from ramming it, but Ash remembered their battle from when it was an eevee, and was waiting on that.

"Pikachu use all your electricity from volt tackle for a thunderbolt!" Ash yelled, pulling the stunt at the last second. Pikachu jumped in the nick of time, and from above fired a devastating thunderbolt down on the moonlight pokemon. It fell hard, and struggled to get back up. Finally it gave up and collapsed on the field. Gary was astounded. Sure, he had swept people without taking a hit before, but for it to happen to him? And by Ash no less. Pikachu looked much more powerful than the last time they had fought. Gary recalled his fallen pokemon and approached his rival, still not believing what he had just witnessed.

"Ash, that was something else. When did Pikachu become so strong? And to not even take a hit? That's amazing. I guess you finally started taking your training seriously, huh." Gary said, while shaking hands with Ash.

"I guess you could say that." Ash said as Pikachu hopped back on his shoulder. "Speaking of training, I'm about to go train for a while for a tournament coming up, so I should probably get going. It was good to see you again Gary, even if it was just a small battle." He didn't want to tell Gary all the details about the tournament. The fewer trainers that knew, the better, he thought. He knew the tournament would go public soon, and maybe the advantage of knowing about the tournament before hand would be enough to give him a fighting chance.

"Ok, Ash I'll see you around. Good luck in the tournament." Gary and Ash said their goodbyes and headed in their respective directions, and for Ash that meant the place where it all began: Route 1. His plan was to head to Pewter City, and from there have Charizard fly them to the Indigo Plateau. Then he would head over to Mt. Silver, and try to get some real training done.

* * *

"That was so awesome!" Pikachu exclaimed. "I finally got to show his Umbreon how _real_ pokemon battle. You know how long it pissed me off that he was still that good, even though he gave up training?"

"Yeah I know," Ash said, "I hated that he still beat us. You were so fast back there! I knew you were stronger, but you really show it in battle." As the two congratulated each other, they noticed that they were slowly leaving Pallet Town behind them. They crested the hill leading away from their hometown, and traversed the worn path heading down towards viridian city. Ash looked around to make sure nobody was around and let out Mew.

_"Where are we?"_ Mew asked as she looked around.

"We're on Route 1. I told you that you could stay out when there is nobody around so I'm sticking to that. Right now we're on our way to viridian city." Mew settled down on Ash's shoulder, content to make small talk with Pikachu about the day's events as they walked. Soon they came upon a river, which flowed off into the distance into a waterfall.

"Ah, I remember this place, don't you Pikachu?" Ash said, as he reminisced about the beginning of his first journey.

"Yeah, mainly because you tried to catch a spearow without my help. I nearly fell out of that tree laughing!" the electric type replied.

"What help? You spent the whole trip up until that point making me drag you with a rope, and once we found a pokemon, you sat in the tree and watched!"

_"Wait a second. Are you telling me you tried to catch a pokemon bare-handed at ten years old?" _Mew asked.

"Haha absolutely, you should have seen it!" Pikachu replied. "He pissed of the whole flock! And of course I had to save him with my awesome thundershock." Mew got a kick out of that and started giggling uncontrollably.

"Hold on Pikachu," Ash said, "I remember running away holding you when we jumped into that river." He pointed to the waterfall that they were nearing. "And besides, the thundershock was a freak accident, you were hit by lightning! And then I saved _you_, remember?"

"Yeah, but only because you stole Misty's bike." By now Mew was cracking up.

"Dear Arceus, don't remind me. That's all I heard for the next year!" Ash said, and then did his best impression of the orange-haired trainer. "Ash, you owe me a bike, Ash, where is my bike, Ash you never paid me back for my bike!" Ash laughed. "She only quit because she got it fixed. I mean, who follows someone for that long for a bike?"

Pikachu laughed but only halfway because of his trainer's impersonation. _'He still doesn't know? She was so obvious about liking him. Well I guess being the Chosen One didn't make him any less dense.'_

_"Was she really that bad? When Mewtwo and I saw you guys, you appeared to be great friends. I never would have thought she was so annoying." _Mew stated, curious of her new trainer's old traveling partners.

"She wasn't really. We fought a lot, but we were really good friends. Now that I think about it, I can almost hear her voice." Ash chuckled and did another impersonation. "Ahhh, no, gyrados, haha."

"Wait Ash, I think someone really said that." Pikachu said.

"What? I didn't think my Misty voice was that good."

_"I hear it too Ash, and I'm sensing three humans at the bottom of the waterfall."_ As they reached the hill beside the waterfall they saw a battle taking place near a spot further down the river. Ash quickly recalled Mew, much to the legendary's displeasure, and picked up his pace, excited to see the battle. Ash and Pikachu came to the riverbank, and their excitement turned to horror at the scene in front of them. An orange-haired girl was recalling a fallen gyrados and sending out a starmie. Starmie joined a weakened Politoed on the field to face off against a Houndour and a Hitmontop. Ash continued scanning the field until his eyes settled on the trainers of the two pokemon. There stood a green haired man, and a gold haired woman, both dressed in all black. Suddenly it all clicked, as if someone switched on a light in his head. That was Misty, and she was fighting Bill and Cassidy from Team Rocket!

"Starmie use psychic on Hitmontop, and Politoed use water gun on Houndour!" Misty yelled, clearly worried.

"Houndour, dodge, and use bite on Starmie!" Cassidy said.

"Hitmontop finish off that politoed with a rapid spin!" Botch shouted. Politoed was clearly exhausted and missed his mark. Starmie nailed Hitmontop with a psychic wave and sent it flying, but Houndour bit down on Starmie's arm. The water/ psychic type tried to shake it off, but to no avail. Misty watched as both Politoed and Hitmontop fainted, leaving Starmie and Houndour to fend for themselves.

"Houndour, let go and finish this with a faint attack!" The dark type let go and disappeared. Misty didn't have time to react as it reappeared behind her pokemon.

"Pikachu, thunderbolt, now!" Ash said breaking out from behind the bushes. Pikachu dove off of his shoulder and zapped the dog before it got close to Starmie. Houndour blasted back and landed near its trainer, who was clearly confused by what was going on. Misty, however, had heard that phrase a million times and knew who it was. Cassidy and Butch recalled their pokemon leaving an angry Starmie, and a crackling Pikachu glaring at them.

"Ash!/ that kid!" They yelled as they saw him run up behind Pikachu.

"What are you two doing here, and why are you fighting Misty!" Ash said, as he glared at them.

"None of your business, kid, that's-" Cassidy started but was interrupted.

"We were returning to base and decided that a gym leader's pokemon would be a nice addition to the team." Bob exclaimed cockily, as though they had won the battle.

"Butch, why would you tell them that!" Cassidy yelled at Botch.

"Thanks Hutch, but you two had better leave before me and Pikachu make you!"

"My names not Hutch!" Biff started, but after seeing Pikachu decided against it. "… but maybe that's not important. You may have won for now, but we'll be back!" and with that the two rockets turned and ran into the forest that Ash had come out of.

"Thanks for that Ash. Starmie was my last pokemon." Misty said after recalling the pokemon in question. "And it's great to see you again, but right now we have to get my pokemon to the pokemon center in Viridian City." Ash nodded and the two began the journey north.

"It's nice to see you too Misty, but what were you doing all the way out here?" Ash asked as they approached the city's borders.

"Well I watched all of your battles in the Sinnoh league on TV, so I knew you were coming home. Unfortunately I had a league inspector come by for end of season inspections, so I wasn't there when you came home. Then some people challenged me, and I couldn't leave until today. I left this morning, and came to the spot we just left. That was where I fished you out of the river five years ago, and I decided to do some fishing then out of nostalgia. Then Team Rocket ran through the clearing, and attacked me when they realized who I was. That brings us to now." Misty finished recounting her story as the trio approached the doors to the pokemon center. Misty handed the pokeballs containing her injured team to the nurse, and the two got a room for the night.

"Ash, I don't mind getting a room together, now that Brock isn't here, but you had better not try anything!" Misty told the trainer, poking him in the chest.

"What do you mean? What would I try?" Ash said genuinely confused.

_'Same old dense Ash. I wish he would learn some of this stuff, it would make my job a whole lot easier. Though it is good to know he won't do anything.'_ Misty thought as she looked at the boy critically. "Don't worry about it Ash. Anyways what have you been doing since you got home? Have you caught any new pokemon?" Ash's thoughts immediately drifted to the legendary cat on his waist, but he couldn't tell Misty just yet.

"No I haven't although I have got some old ones back. Remember Charizard?" Misty instinctually shuddered at the thought of the pseudo-dragon. Even though he listened to Ash now, her first thoughts were always those of the old days where he was reckless and dangerous. Ash saw this and laughed. "Don't worry he's fine. Anyways I haven't been doing much, since I got back. This is actually the first day of my new journey!" Ash explained.

"Oh, really? Where are you going?" Misty asked. She opened the door to their room and threw her stuff down on one of their beds, with Ash following suit.

"I'm actually just doing some training for the next couple months. There is a tournament coming up, and I have to get my team in top shape for it."

"Wow, sounds exciting. Hey Ash, I have a favor to ask." Misty looked away hoping he wouldn't see the slight blush on her face.

"What is it Misty?" Ash asked as he realized some familiarity in the situation.

"Umm, if it's not too much to ask, can I travel with you again?" Misty said, uncharacteristically nervous. She pushed her index fingers together and awaited her friend's verdict. Ash and Pikachu looked at each other and began laughing. Misty was furious. They _laughed_ at her! The bastards. "Ash Ketchum stop laughing at me right now!" That, of course, only made them laugh harder.

_'Oh my Arceus, it's Mew all over again!" _Ash thought as he wiped his tears off his face. "Misty, why are you so nervous? We're best friends and we already traveled together once. Why do you think I would reject you now?" The word reject hit a hidden chord inside Misty, and she became nervous again.

"Well, you just came back! Also it's been two years since we traveled together and I figured you didn't want to. Also you just started a new journey and so I thought maybe you didn't want me to… Stop laughing Ash! What is so funny?!" By now Misty was furious and embarrassed, and Ash and Pikachu were crying into their pillow with laughter, which wasn't helping at all.

"I'm sorry Misty, I really am! We aren't laughing at you, I promise." Misty snorted in disbelief at that. "Anyways of course you can come! Who am I to turn down an old friend? Misty, we had awesome adventures when we traveled together. It would be great if you could join me again!" Misty was still a little ticked off but felt a huge wave of relief when he said that. She took him up in a rare hug. It was a touching moment, only to be ruined by Ash's unbelievable power to always be hungry. As the two stood there feeling his stomach growl, an awkward silence settled over the room.

"Uhh, so I guess I'm a little hungry, how about we go get something to eat?" Ash asked, scratching his head sheepishly. Misty laughed, amazed that after two years, he was still the same boy she left.

"Well since you were nice enough to let me come, I guess I can go see if Nurse Joy has any sandwiches left over from the lunch period." Ash nodded his consent, amazed that he and Misty were having normal conversations. She left the room, headed for the front desk, and Ash took no time in letting Mew out.

"Haha Mew, you'll never guess what just happened!" Pikachu said as he and Ash were already laughing again.

_"Is Misty coming with us?"_ Mew asked as she settled onto Misty's bed. The two immediately stopped laughing and looked at her with questioning faces. _"I'm psychic, duh. And anyone could see that she wanted to come with you from the start. Why else would she be on Route 1?"_ Ash and Pikachu looked at each other amazed, and then back at the psychic cat who acted as though those were the most obvious conclusions in the world. _"Plus it's obvious, at least to me, that she has a cru-"_ but the legendary couldn't finish her comment as she was interrupted by a thump from behind Ash. She could see who it was but Ash couldn't. Thinking it was Misty coming in, he scrambled to find Mew's pokeball.

"It's not what it looks like Misty this is just-" but now it was Ash's turn to be interrupted.

"What are you doing here?" Pikachu Asked. "And who is- no way! Ash look who it is!" he was about to follow the pokemon's advice when he heard something he really didn't want to hear.

_"Mewtwo, YAY! I knew you would come! I'm so excited you're here!"_ Ash sighed. He knew nothing good could come of this, but he knew he had to address the pokemon. He turned around and saw, much to his surprise, Mewtwo and a riolu.

"Chosen One! Ash!" Riolu said as it tackled him on the bed with a hug. Something about this riolu felt familiar, but before he could ask, the other visitor addressed him.

_"Greetings Chosen One. Ash, I am here to ask of you a favor."_ Ash sighed already knowing where this was going. He sat up with Riolu sitting next to him, both staring at Mewtwo as he talked. _"You see Ash, I am here to devote myself to your cause."_ Already knowing why he was here, Ash wasn't surprised, but was amazed at Mewtwo's humility. _"Ash, you are the only human I trust, and thus the only trainer I may ever have. You have shown me the way in life, and saved my newly formed life in the Johto region. It is with much humility that I request to be a part of your team, if you will have me."_ As he talked Mewtwo could literally feel the excitement pour off of Mew who was hovering mere inches away from him. She let out a squeal as he made his intentions known and flew down next to Ash.

_"I knew you would come, Mewtwo! Ash, Mewtwo has been meaning to see you for a while, but hasn't gotten over his pride." _Mewtwo glared at the small cat, who just shrugged it off. _"Mewtwo, being part of the team is awesome!" _She said as she looked back at him.

_"Well that is great Mew, but I still have a few points to address. You see Ash; I meant to come with Mew to find you." _Mewtwo looked over to the small pokemon, who was hiding from Mewtwo behind Ash. _"However, she simply ran off after taking care of herself. Arceus then called all the legendaries together and held a big meeting, concerning legendary pokemon joining you on your journey. We may only join you once we have found a suitable replacement for our duties. Luckily there are some of most legendaries. For instance Mew's cousin is now in charge of the Tree of Beginning." _Ash realized that he had never thought of that, and began to listen closer. _"I have no duties myself. I have left what remains of the clones that have not integrated into natural societies under the charge of Pikachu's clone."_ The original gave a small fistpump at that. _"That left me free to find you after the meeting. I left to head back here from Sinnoh and found a pokemon in need of your assistance. This Riolu claims to be a close friend of yours, from your journeys in Sinnoh."_ The trainer looked down at the small fighting type who smiled back up at him. That's where he knew him from! Now that he focused he could feel the aura coming off of the pokemon, and knew it to be true. _"I decided to bring him with me, and allow him to plead his case."_

Ash looked at the Emanation Pokemon who nodded his agreement with Mewtwo's story. "It's true Ash! I want to come with you!" Riolu looked up in the humans face with as much sincerity as he could muster, which was quite a lot. "After you left, I felt like part of me left. I guess that's because our auras bonded, but I also knew you were a good trainer so I wanted to go with you regardless. I told the lucario and riolu of the kingdom, and they told me that I could either stay and fulfill my duties, or travel with a human. So I chose to come looking for you! I want to join your team Ash!" As he said this Riolu jumped up and stared at Ash with a face full of determination. Ash could feel the confidence pouring off of Riolu's aura, and couldn't help but feel a little inside himself.

"Ok, alright, you both can come with me." They both looked relieved with Ash's decision, and Mew did a few victory laps around Ash. Pikachu was excited to have them onboard, but realized he had some serious competition for Ash's attention now. "Mewtwo there are some rules though, and I'm sure you won't have any problem with them. You can't be out of your pokeball near crowds." Mewtwo nodded at this. He wouldn't want to be out anyway. "And try to get along with the rest of the team. That's not a rule but it will make things go smoother." Mewtwo nodded again. Ash leaned over to get two empty pokeballs out of his bag. "If you are ready, let me get-" but a sound froze him in his tracks. _*click* _He turned around to see his friend close the door behind her.

"Sorry it took so long to get the sandwiches. Joy insisted on making fresh ones and I-" Misty turned around to face Ash, and stopped talking. Seeing Mew inches from your face, and Mewtwo staring at you from behind will do that to you.

_"Hi! Ooo sandwiches!"_ Mew said as she flew out of the girls face, grabbed a sandwich and settled into her trainer's lap. She started munching on a small piece as everyone stared at each other.

"Ash, what the hell is going on?" Misty asked.

"Uh, surprise?"

* * *

**Well that's that. What did you think? Everything you always dreamed it would be? No? Fine then. Oh, yeah shippings. Well I figured it was pretty well agreed upon that Misty likes Ash. Ash however is a dense idiot, and so he shall remain (none of the characters in my story will be too ooc). In fact, many girls in this story will like Ash, but he won't have a clue that any of them like him. All of this is subject to change of course. Who knows, you could check back next chapter and find 27 sex scenes. I gotta keep you on your toes.**

**Lastly, as an afterthought, sorry it took so long for this chapter, but like I said, college is a bitch for finding time to write, so I can only update so fast.**

**Well, that's the end of my chapterly rant. See ya! (Now you post a review. Go on. It's free.)**


	4. Learning

**That's right! It's chapter 4! Somehow I found time that I didn't even know I had to work on this (it's 6:00 AM right now). So enjoy it! Also it's about 50% longer than the other 3. Anyways, I really don't have too much to say so I'll cut this short. **

**A) Someone messaged me so i'll address this. This is an adventure/humor fic, ergo no shippings will take precedent over his adventure.**

**2)I just wanna say thanks to all my reviewers. I didn't know how well i would be able to put comedy on paper, and ya'll have helped keep the spirit alive.**

**?) That's it! Enjoy this Chapter! That's not optional either.**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I don't own pokemon. And i'm jealous of those that do.

"Uh, surprise?"

Everyone continued staring for a second until a voice broke through the silence.

_ "Based upon her reaction to our presence, I would assume you haven't told her of your status yet?" _Mewtwo said as he looked from Misty to Ash. Ash sighed.

"No. I haven't seen her in two years until a few hours ago. And I wasn't planning on telling her, until she asked to travel with me again." Ash finished speaking, and looked back at the orange-haired gym leader, who was now looking at his little band of travelers like they were all nuts.

"Ash, what's going on? I'm so lost right now. Why in the world are Mewtwo and Mew here, and what is that blue pokemon?" Misty said, finally registering Riolu who was sitting next to Ash. Surprisingly, she wasn't screaming or running away, but Ash figured she was still in shock. Ash looked down at Pikachu to see him nodding, and began what he had already done twice that day.

"Misty, do you remember that legend on Shamouti Island?" Ash started.

"Of course. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, it turns out that being the Chosen One was a little more than that." And so Ash explained everything. He told her all about his meetings with the legendaries individually, and all the way through the big meeting on Shamouti. He then began to explain the past day and a half, and how the pokemon in the room were involved. Every now and then Mew or Pikachu would comment but for the most part Ash was uninterrupted, which completely blew the trainers mind. Here was one of the most vocal of his traveling partners, being virtually silent. Finally the reason presented itself as he finished recounting what happened before she walked in.

"Bullshit." Misty said.

"…what?" Ash was thrown off guard. He knew the story was ridiculous, but to completely disregard it?

"Bullshit. I believe all of your stories from Sinnoh and Hoenn, but everything else is bullshit. Ash, you do not have two legendary pokemon, and some mystical aura thing. Why are Mewtwo and Mew really here?" Misty said as though Ash was a little kid, who was making up stories as he went. She stared at him awaiting an answer as Ash thought of something to say to such a bold claim, but was caught by surprise as Ash's cavalry arrived.

_"What he says is true Misty, even the last details about Riolu and myself wishing to join his team. He is the Chosen One, and you should be honored to be in his presence. Were you a pokemon, such claims against his status would land you in deep trouble. Also, if you were not his friend, I would have acted against you myself." _Misty paled at the cloned pokemon's words. Mewtwo may trust Ash, and Misty may have helped Ash save him, but that didn't mean Mewtwo trusted her yet. As long as he was to be Ash's pokemon, his future trainer wasn't taking shit from anyone if Mewtwo had anything to say about it.

"Thanks Mewtwo, but Misty is fine. She's just having a tough time believing all of this. Honestly, if I didn't happen to me, I would be the same way she is." Ash tried to cover for Misty, and noticed Mewtwo relax a little.

Mew, now finished with her sandwich, flew from Ash's lap to his shoulder to get their attention _"Mewtwo may be a bit rough about it, but he and Ash are right. I'm on Ash's team now and so are Mewtwo and Riolu."_

"I can even prove it to you Misty." Ash said, getting her attention. "Call out one of your pokemon, and they can tell you for themselves." Ash had told her of all pokemon's ability to recognize the Chosen One during his explanation, and now was the best time to show her firsthand.

"Ok, easy enough. Go, Vaporeon!" Ash was surprised to see she had a Vaporeon, but then again she had always wanted one. The bubble jet pokemon appeared in front of her trainer, and examined her surroundings. She (**A/N **I know female eevee are rare, but it's a totally feminine pokemon) noticed Ash standing there and responded accordingly.

"Chosen One!" the pokemon yelled as it tackled Ash. Mew barely had time to react as her trainer was knocked on his back. Apparently it was a pretty young pokemon because it had reacted more like the starters, and less like Umbreon or any of the older pokemon. Pikachu, Riolu and Mew laughed at the scene, while Mewtwo remained indifferent and Misty was shocked at the reaction of her usually placid pokemon. "Are you here to see my trainer Chosen One?" She asked as she let the trainer sit back up on the bed.

"Yes, actually. She couldn't believe I was the Chosen One so we needed you for a second opinion. We haven't traveled together in a while, so she thought I was making things up." Ash said to his friend's pokemon.

"You know my trainer?" Vaporeon questioned as she looked back and forth between her trainer and the (to her) legend. Misty was watching all of this with a shocked expression. Ash was holding a conversation with her pokemon! One he had never met before!

"Yeah I do, actually. We were traveling partners a while ago, and we just ran into each other so were going to be traveling together again." As he said this the water type's expression turned to pure joy.

"No way! It's an honor to be traveling with you! Just let me know if you need any help dealing with Misty. She can be a bit stubborn at times." Ash and Pikachu lost it when she said that, and began cracking up.

"Trust me Vaporeon, I know. It was nice meeting you." Vaporeon smiled as was sucked into her pokeball by a bewildered gym leader, who noticed they were done talking.

"So, you believe me now?" Ash asked as he reached over and grabbed a victory sandwich. He had been talking the whole time, and only now realized how hungry he was.

"Uh, huh." Misty said still in shock. The implications of what her best friend just did were simply… unimaginable. It all began to settle in her mind, and hit her like a machamp. "Oh my Arceus, I CAN'T BEL-" As her voice got louder, Ash jumped in his seat.

"Misty, calm down! I can't have the entire world knowing about it!" as he said this, he intentionally reached out with his mind and calmed her down. She settled in her seat feeling her mind and body relax. Nothing was wrong. Whose best friend _isn't_ the Chosen One? _'Whoa'_ Ash thought, _'I should probably tone it down next time. She looks like she is about to fall asleep.'_ He let up on the power, and watched Misty return to normal.

"That was weird I don't know what just came over me." Misty said. "Anyways, that's unbelievable! I used Vaporeon because you had never met it, and she jumped on you like you were best friends. Not to mention you had a conversation with her!"

"Yeah she's nice," Ash began, "but when did you get a Vaporeon? She was really young."

"I got her a couple months ago in Celadon City. After she spent some time in the gym, she wanted to evolve into a vaporeon, so I got her a water stone."

_"As interesting as this story is, I must confess I am anxious to get this over with Ash. I was nervous when I came here, and the wait is doing nothing helpful." _Mewtwo said, regaining attention on the matters at hand before Misty had walked in.

"I gotta say Ash, I'm excited too! I heard so many stories of Chosen Pokemon growing up; I wanna see what it's like!" Riolu said.

"Oh yeah, sorry guys. Alright let me see here." Ash went over to his bag which had his other pokemon, and all of his empty pokeballs. He picked up two empty ones and walked over to Mewtwo and Riolu. "Alright you two, just press the button in the middle." Riolu slapped the button immediately, and Mewtwo reached out and gently pressed it. They were sucked in, and both pokeballs let out a near-simultaneous 'ding'. Ash threw let them back out and pocketed the pokeballs. He felt his mind open up to the newcomers, as a connection established.

_"Welcome to the team you two!"_ Mew said as she flew over and hugged each one. _"Were gonna have so much fun!"_ Mewtwo sighed, already fearing his new teammate. Riolu ran over and sat next to Pikachu, watching the Mew duo.

_"Mew, calm yourself. We don't even know Ash's next destination yet, or when we are leaving." _As Mewtwo said this, all eyes turned towards the raven-haired trainer."

"Uhhh…" Ash said dumbly as he got nervous under five expecting gazes. _'Damn it, I had a plan, what was it?'_ "Give me a second I forgot." Everyone in the room face/paw palmed at his stupidity, and a sigh of familiar exasperation left the Cerulean native.

"Typical Ash, he doesn't even have a plan yet!" Misty said as she had thousands of flashbacks to their past.

"I do too; I just need to think for a second!" Ash retaliated.

"Do not!"

"Do too!" This was vocal warfare at its finest and Ash was a master.

"Do not!" Misty, however, was both as eloquent and deadly with the tongue as her rival, and would not take such lies.

"Do too!"

"Do not!" Pikachu prepared himself for the usual bout of arguing when something happened. Ash smirked. He now had the tools to deal with this situation, he reminded himself. He focused on Misty, and she suddenly became very relaxed.

"I have a plan Misty, no need to worry." He watched Misty, and felt something in the air. Call it unfair, dirty cheating but by Arceus he felt something about to happen. Unable to get worked up enough to argue with her friend, she surrendered.

"Yeah you probably do." She said as she enjoyed her state of zen. That was it! Ash won! He threw his hands up in victory; savoring the first time in history that Misty had _ever _admitted Ash was right. He relinquished his connection and remembered his plan from earlier.

"Hey! That… that wasn't fair! You can't use your powers on me!" Misty said as she realized what was going on. Ash just ignored her, albeit still smiling, and addressed everyone.

"So what I was going to say was that we are going up to Pewter City, and then taking a flight to Mt. Silver. Is that Ok?"

"Fine…" Misty said, still mad from a second ago. She had to admit it was a good plan though. If Ash wanted to do some training there was no better place than Mt. Silver. All the pokemon also consented with the plan.

_"Why not just have Mew or myself teleport you there?"_ Mewtwo asked. _"It would be much faster."_

"And that's why we won't. We have six months to burn until the tournament, so we can afford to take a trip the long way. Also there are a few friends I want to see, and some training I want to do along the way." Everyone nodded at this, and Misty was about to say something, when Ash's stomach growled.

"I don't get it Ash, we just ate, how can you be hungry? I mean it's only… oh wow it's already 9:00! We missed dinner in the lobby!" Misty said. Ash groaned, because that meant he had to scrounge for food. "Don't worry Ash, I have food in my backpack." They pulled out Misty's food, and Ash set out pokemon food for everyone else.

_"What is this, Ash?"_ Mewtwo asked, as he eyed the food. Mew Pikachu and Riolu were destroying their bowls, however, and Mewtwo decided to take a bite. They were pretty damn good!

"It's just a bunch of nutrition and flavoring packed together. It helps keep pokemon healthy." Ash said, as he destroyed another bowl of ramen. Misty watched the boy obliterate his third bowl, remembering how Ash used to eat. Soon they were done with their meal and Ash decided it was time for bed. It had been a very long day, and they needed to get going early tomorrow. Ash put the two legendaries back in their ball, after explaining that under no circumstances could he be in a pokemon center with two legendary pokemon out of their pokeballs. By 10:30 everyone got in bed, tired and ready to fall asleep. Pikachu curled up next to Ash, and Riolu curled up at the foot of the bed, happy to finally be reunited with Ash. Snores filled the room, leaving only an orange haired trainer awake.

_'It's been a long two years, but I finally get to travel with him again. Maybe now I can get him to notice me.'_ Misty sighed as she realized the gargantuan task ahead of her. _'I just hope I don't have any competition, his density is enough for a lifetime.'_ No competition? Where's the challenge in that?

* * *

"Ash, get up! I forgot how long you can sleep. Now get up, or we won't get anywhere today!" Ash heard a girl pleading with him to get up, and forgot where he was for a second.

"Wow, Dawn, since when are you up this early? And where's Brock?" he asked, as he yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"I'm Misty, Brock isn't here and it's not early! Now get up, it's already 10:00!" Misty yelled as she finished packing her things. Ash's eyes shot open at this and, realizing where he was, he quickly got dressed and packed. He picked up Pikachu and recalled Riolu, both of who were awake by the time he was done. They quickly left and turned north, towards the Viridian Forest. They made good time through the city, as foot traffic was light on the roads leading out. They were almost out of the city and on Route 2, when someone stopped them.

A young girl, about 12 or 13 came running up to them, and grabbed Ash's arm, much to Misty's anger and Ash and Pikachu's confusion. She had shoulder length blonde hair, an average looking frame, a basic light blue tank top, and denim shorts. She looked like an average girl, so Ash was wondering just what the hell she was doing. She began squealing and called a boy who was following her over.

"Ohmygoshitsyou!" She said while jumping up and down. The boy finally caught up and all three plus Pikachu looked at her expectantly. "Brad, this is Ash Ketchum! He just got the semi-finals in the Sinnoh cup, not to mention tons of other achievements! He is also friends with May Maple and Dawn Berlitz!" Brad nodded, obviously understanding, but Ash and Misty still had no clue what was going on. "Ash I'm like your biggest fan! I'm from Pallet Town too, and I love your battles, although I'm a coordinator, and that's why I love to watch May and Dawn, and when I saw you know them I was like 'no way'!"

"Uh…Thanks?" Ash said lost for words at the girl's incoherent ramble. Misty just folded her arms and looked away. He has fangirls now? He hasn't even won anything!

"Oh and is this your famous Pikachu!" she picked the poor pokemon off of his trainer's shoulder. "It's adorable!" Pikachu was about to protest, but at the words 'famous' and 'adorable' he let the girl squeeze him in a hug. Just as fast as she took him, she put him back. "Oh but I forgot to tell you who I am! I'm Amanda, and this is my boyfriend Brad. He's a trainer too!" The two guys shook hands at the awkward introduction. Brad looked pretty average too, wearing just a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt. He had short brown hair and glasses, as well as a small blue backpack. Finally registering who was beside him, she turned and looked at Misty. "Oh, no way! Misty, the gym leader of Cerulean Gym? Why are you with Ash? Are you dating, or just a huge fan or what?" Misty flushed bright red at that, both out of anger, and embarrassment.

"I'm not a fangirl! I'm traveling with him, we're old friends. Also we aren't dating!"

"Oh, ok. Sorry about that. Well what do you two say to a double battle?" Ash's head snapped up at that, and even Misty looked interested at getting to battle with Ash. Brad was a bit sheepish that his girlfriend would just go for the kill like that, but was excited nonetheless. Everybody agreed and they began to head to a nearby park.

"Oh no, Brad look its Kevin!" Amanda said, pointing to someone on the other side of the street. He saw them and began to come over. "Ash this kid Kevin is a total tool. He asked me out and I turned him down, so he's been trying to impress me ever since. He always battles Brad any chance he gets it's so annoying. Just try to-"

"Hey Amanda. I see your still with Brad." Kevin said, arriving on the scene. He looked over at Brad, obviously ticked. "And whose this?" he added, nodding at Ash and Misty.

"Kevin, this is Ash Ketchum, and Misty Waterflower. Ash is a talented trainer, and Misty is the gym leader of Cerulean City." She did her best to be nice, but she was failing miserably, as she was clearly pissed.

"Talented? He looks like a pushover." Pikachu growled and Ash was about to speak when Kevin continued. "I bet I could beat him easily." Now Ash smiled. A battle was right up his alley, and he would have no problem kicking this kid's ass. Misty wanted to see this kid get whipped too, so she pushed him the last little bit.

"Why don't you challenge him to a battle then?" she said sweetly.

"Alright, fine. Ash, three on three, over in this park," he pointed to the park they were originally headed to, "unless you're scared." Ash grinned.

"I'll be fine, Kevin." They walked over to the park, and took up positions on either side of the marked practice field. Misty took up the spot of referee and raised her hands.

"This is a battle between Kev-"

"No need for introductions, let's just battle!" Kevin said as he took out his first pokeball. Misty grumbled (tool, and asshole were thrown in somewhere), and went to stand with Amanda and Brad. Kevin sent out his first pokemon, a Sandslash.

"Chosen One! Forgive me, but I must do as my trainer requests." Much like Umbreon, Sandslash gave a curt bow to the confusion of everyone but Ash and Misty. Ash merely nodded, and threw out his own pokeball. Totodile bursted out, dancing like always.

"Whoo! A battle! Bring it on Sandslash!" Totodile yelled as he got pumped up.

"A Totodile, eh? No problem. Sandslash, use slash!" Kevin yelled, as he pointed at his foe.

"Totodile, use water gun!" Ash said as he watched Sandslash run right for Totodile. The big jaw pokemon simply fired a water gun straight and nailed Sandslash in the chest. It rolled backwards and stopped by its trainer, slowly getting up.

"Sandslash, don't give up! Use dig!" The mouse pokemon dug a whole, and disappeared. Everyone waited to see what would happen, except Ash.

"Totodile, wait for it. The instant you feel the ground shake, jump and use water gun." The water type waited, and jumped a second later. Sandslash was right behind it, and got slammed down by the following blast of water. It landed on the ground, clearly out. Kevin called it back, and prepared to call his next pokemon out, when he was stopped by Ash.

"Kevin, that was pretty weak battling. If you keep rushing in like that, your pokemon are gonna get hurt." Ash said, as he pointed to the pokeball Sandslash was in for emphasis.

"So? They want to battle." Ash sighed.

"You are their trainer, you're supposed to use strategy and tactics, not just send them in. They want to battle, yes, but they don't want to get beaten. How many gym badges have you won?"

"I haven't won any. I keep trying to beat that Forrest kid, but he cheats."

"So you haven't won any. Go train with your pokemon, and think about what it means to be a trainer, then you can battle me." Ash called Totodile back, and turned but was stopped by Kevin.

"Who do you think you are? You can't just walk away! My next pokemon would wipe the floor with you. It is my starter after all. Go, Blastoise!" Ash sighed again. Some kids just need it beaten into them, don't they?

"Be careful Ash, his Blastoise is actually pretty good!" Amanda said from the sidelines. Blastoise then gave the same speech as Umbreon and Sandslash. Ash nodded again, and pulled out his next pokemon.

"Sceptile, go!"

"Finally, some action!" Sceptile said, as he faced his opponent. "Not exactly league quality, but I'll take what I can get." Sceptile grinned at that and twirled his twig in his mouth.

"Blastoise, water pulse!" Kevin called to his starter. The turtle held his hands together, and a blue sphere formed in the middle. He launched it at Sceptile, and the ball turned into a large ring as it flew.

"Sceptile agility, then leaf blade!" Sceptile vanished, and appeared next to Blastoise. He then let off a barrage of leaf blades into the turtle. "Now finish with a leaf storm!" From point-blank, Sceptile fired a cyclone of glowing leaves at Blastoise, who was devastated by the move. The turtle flipped over and landed, out cold, in front of his trainer. Sceptile returned to Ash's side. "Thanks Sceptile, you did great." Ash said, as he recalled the Hoenn starter.

"I don't know how you did it Ash, but you cheated. I'm outta here. Have fun with these losers, Amanda." Kevin said as he recalled his pokemon.

"Sorry Kevin, but you're the only loser I see here." Amanda retaliated as Kevin turned and left. Suddenly she sprung into action. "Ash that was amazing! I knew you were good, but Sceptile was so fast, and Totodile was so strong, and you didn't take a hit! You were so cool!" She jumped the trainer and hugged him, much to the chagrin of everyone else.

"Thanks Amanda." Ash said, as he wasted his time trying to peel the human glue off of him. "It just comes with experience. Hey look at the time Misty; we should probably be hitting the road!" He told his friend as he finally slipped out of the young girl's grasp.

"I couldn't agree with you more, Ash." Misty grabbed the boy by the arm and dragged him away from Amanda, much to Brad and Ash's relief.

"What about our battle?" Amanda called, as she watched the boy fade into the distance.

"Sorry, we'll have to do it another time!" She heard back faintly. Pouting, her and Brad left the park, headed for the city.

* * *

"Can you believe that Amanda girl? She was getting all worked up over you, and you haven't even done anything!" Misty grumbled as her and Ash continued their trek, now on Route 2.

"I have too done things! I think you're just jealous because you don't have fans." Ash fired back.

"I have plenty of fans, Ash! I am a well respected gym leader, of a fairly large city. Not to mention my sisters bring crowds to the gym all the time." Misty paused for a second. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"Back when you were battling Kevin, you went into a lecture about respecting your pokemon, and what it means to be a trainer."

"So, what's your point?"

"Since when do you do stuff like that?"

"Well I have had to deal with people like that a bunch of times in the past, and I guess being so connected to pokemon now made me a little angrier at what he was doing." Misty nodded at what he was saying. Kids like that always pissed him off, but now it was more personal. The two continued their journey, talking about their pasts and what each other has been doing. Without realizing it, the two had come to the first edges of the Viridian Forest. It was now late afternoon, and the forest was fairly dark in the setting sun. Misty had grown silent, waiting on the horrible nightmares of the forest to come out of the darkness. Why did they have to go through here again?

"Misty relax, as long as you don't freak out everything will be fine." Ash said, noticing his arm in a death grip from his traveling partner.

"Ash, you know I hate bug types! And I don't freak out, I just give them personal space." Ash sweatdropped at that.

"Misty the first time we were here, you smacked my new caterpie in the face with your mallet." Ash said, remembering their original journey through the forest, and the first pokemon he had ever caught.

"So? He was scary! I was going to-" She started, but was interrupted by a by a movement in the side of her vision. She turned and saw a caterpie on the branch of a tree not two feet from where she was standing. "AHH!" She jumped and took off running in the opposite direction. Ash sighed as he watched her hide behind a tree about 50 yards down the trail they were on.

"Pikachu can you go get her for me?" Ash asked as he looked at his starter.

"Aye aye, captain." And Pikachu ran down the trail to where the orange-haired trainer was hiding. Ash watched him go for a second, and then turned to the new arrival.

"Chosen One, what brings you to this forest? Is there anything you need help with?" Caterpie asked as it looked at Ash from the branch it was on.

"Actually there is, Caterpie. Do you know where a flock of pidgey is around here? I'm looking for their leader, a pidgeot." Caterpie shuddered at the mention of its natural predator.

"Yes, I do." He could have shown Ash to the flock, but would rather not get anywhere them.

"Can you get word to them that I need to see that pidgeot? Ash asked, oblivious to the poor bug's dilemma. He turned and watched Misty walk back down the road nervously, glancing from side to side, with Pikachu on her shoulder.

"Yes I can." Caterpie said, completely unexcited about the whole situation. He would probably ask a butterfree to pass the message along, there was no way he was going near the flock personally.

"And Caterpie? If you could, could you spread word around the forest that aside from Pidgeot, I am not to be bothered? I have to work on something with my team," Ash lied, trying to sound as official as possible, "and unless it's an emergency, I don't want to be interrupted." Ash had no problem with bug types, but unless he did something, the trip through the forest would be a nightmare with Misty.

"Of course, Chosen One. You can count on me!" The bug pokemon turned and went deeper into the forest to deliver the messages that had been given to it. Ash turned to find the gym leader and Pikachu back.

"Thanks buddy." Ash said as Pikachu hopped back on his trainer's shoulder. "Misty it was just a caterpie!"

"I was just surprised is all! It snuck up on me!" Ash reached out and calmed Misty using his powers. She relaxed a little, and returned to normal.

"Anyways after watching you run away I asked caterpie if he could tell everyone not to bother us. So you shouldn't have to worry about any more bug pokemon." Ash said as he started walking down the trail again.

"YES!" Misty yelled as she caught up with the trainer. _'No more bug pokemon! I could get used to being friends with the Chosen One.'_ Misty thought as she relished the idea. Maybe she could get Ash to ban them from the world? She was lost in her thoughts and soon they ended up in a clearing that they could spend the night in, even though they still had a couple hours until they went to bed. Ash decided to do some small training with the newer parts of his team while Misty made dinner. She had picked up the skill while living alone in Cerulean most of the time. Ash still couldn't cook at all, and it was settled. Ash was responsible for setting up camp, while Misty would cook. Once he had camp set up, Ash let out Riolu, Mewtwo, and Mew.

"Ok guys were just going to do some basic stuff while misty gets dinner ready, ok?" The three nodded their heads, wondering what that entailed. "Well since this is your first training session, and its late out we aren't doing anything big. I just want to know what moves you all know." Ash nodded to Riolu, who was the first to start.

"Well, I know aura sphere, force palm, counter, quick attack and reversal." Riolu said as he looked up at Ash, who nodded at each move.

"Ok, that's a pretty shallow moveset." Riolu looked down, wishing he knew more moves. "But I think we can work with it. I mean, you're really powerful; just the fact that you can use aura sphere is amazing. I have a few ideas, but let's start at the basics." Riolu got pumped again after hearing Ash's praise and couldn't wait to get started. "I need you to show me your force palm." Ash went and found a decent sized rock, and called Riolu over. "Now just use force palm on this rock."

The small pokemon concentrated its aura into its hand, and after a pause he felt the power build to a usable level. One he had that, he let the power go, and blew the rock into pieces. Riolu turned around, eagerly awaiting his trainer's judgment. Ash was taken aback by the strength of the little pokemon.

"Riolu that was awesome! Your aura sphere was strong, but that was something else." Riolu cheered at Ash's praise. His first training session, and he impressed his new trainer! Riolu was already energetic, but now he was ecstatic! He looked to Ash and asked what was next, eagerly awaiting whatever Ash may have him do.

"Haha, sorry Riolu. I know it's exciting but I only needed a little demonstration, so I could figure out how strong you were. Don't forget were just having a quick session." Riolu was put off at this, even though he was still a little giddy on the inside. Ash saw the young pokemon hang his head, and quickly said "Don't worry though. We'll have a longer one tomorrow and you can show me everything you got." Riolu perked up at that, and ran back to his trainer's side so he could watch who was next. He knew training was important, and tomorrow he was going to show Ash just how strong he was!

* * *

"Feels good, right?" His thoughts were interrupted by the yellow mouse that now stood next to him. Riolu took a second to process Pikachu's words. The electric type picked up on his confusion and explained. "Praise is awesome isn't it? You want to make your trainer proud, and to hear him say stuff like that is great isn't it?" Riolu nodded.

"Yeah I wasn't sure how Ash would react. I was worried he would think I was too weak to fight, and if he did, I don't know what I would have done. When he said I was strong, it felt awesome! It made me happy that he was happy. Is it always like that?" Pikachu laughed at the fighting type, who looked at him curiously.

"Yeah it is. Every time a pokemon joins a trainer's team, it goes through what you just went through. The test, the waiting, the anxiousness, it's all a part of bonding with a new trainer. And every time you make your trainer feel proud, or sad, you are going to feel it. Like, really feel it. When Ash gives you praise it's amazing, but if he's disappointed in you, you feel like dirt. That's why you're lucky to have him as your trainer, because he is always proud of his pokemon, and unless you go out of your way to make him mad, he'll never be disappointed in you." Riolu listened to his new mentor with rapt attention, taking in every word he said. As Pikachu spoke, he gained a new level of appreciation for the boy that he already idolized.

"Will Mewtwo, and Mew be that way too?" Riolu asked. The two looked up at the Mew duo, who were currently talking to Ash about psychic moves and powers.

"Absolutely, I would bet anything on it. I've had to watch all of Ash's pokemon go through this, and they all had the same reaction you just did. Every pokemon feels that connection with their trainer, and they are no exception. You saw how nervous Mewtwo was about asking Ash, and that was even before he was on the team. The fact that Mewtwo was nervous about anything is ridiculous. Mew was even worse, she was mumbling, and shy, and she barely even asked him. She even looks pretty nervous right now!" Sure enough, the psychic cat seemed stiff, instead of her usually carefree self. Riolu looked impressed that Ash could even have that effect on legendaries. "Ok, here we go. Watch, you'll get to see how you just looked, I guarantee it." The two watched as Mewtwo volunteered to go first.

* * *

"Ok who wants to go first?" Ash asked, as he looked between the two legends before him. He had just had a small lesson on how they control psychic power, and was ready to give one of them the same basic test he had given Riolu. Mewtwo suggested that he go first, and Ash saw no reason to disagree. "Alright Mewtwo, step up to the plate." He guided Mewtwo to the outer reaches of the clearing they were using. "Alright, what moves do you know?"

_"Psychic, shadow ball, barrier, counter, disable, miracle eye, psycho cut, water pulse, calm mind, ice beam, reflect, and aerial ace."_ Mewtwo said as he looked down at the boy. Ash simply stood there slack-jawed staring at the genetic pokemon. _"Is there something wrong Ash?"_ Mewtwo asked, as he looked at his immobile trainer. Many thoughts were rushing through Ash's mind right now. Where to start? Where to go? It was a lot to take in, and all he could get out was:

"How? How do you already know so many moves?" Mewtwo smirked.

_"All legendary pokemon do. I am a clone of Mew who has a very large move pool. Also, when you need to defend yourself from Team Rocket, you need as much help as possible. Just wait until you ask Mew about her moveset, it will be quite impressive. She is far older than I, and has had much more interaction with various types of pokemon." _The psychic, now understanding why Ash was blown away, was awaiting his trainer patiently.

"O... Ok. Let's just start with one for right now. How about psycho cut? That's a psychic move, and will let me judge your physical power. I've already seen how powerful your psychic is, so I won't need to see that just yet." Ash thought out loud, as he pondered all of the different things Mewtwo could do.

_"Simple enough"_ Mewtwo turned towards a thick fallen tree that Ash was pointing at. He focused on his paw and a small ball of energy formed there. He released it and a blade formed as it flew through the air. It sliced clean through the log, as though he wasn't really trying, which he wasn't. Needless to say, Ash was blown away.

"Mewtwo that was amazing! I knew you were powerful, but that tree was like nothing to you! That's incredible! Ok, as cool as that was, we'll have to see everything else tomorrow because dinner is almost ready." Ash turned and walked over to the other legendary, and Mewtwo stood there for a second. A small smile formed on his face, and he felt something he had never felt before. Pride. Not in an arrogant way, or even in a normal self-confident way. This was the kind of pride that came when someone was proud of you, something that Mewtwo had never felt before. And he could get used to it.

* * *

"See, told you. Look at him! There is no mistaking that look on his face. He doesn't show it much, but you can see how happy he is after that comment." Riolu looked on, amazed at what he saw before him. Mewtwo had felt the same thing he did! He was a legendary, and he felt pride in making his trainer happy, just like any other pokemon. He was shaken out of his thoughts when Pikachu started to speak again.

"Ok, so that wasn't what you looked like. You had more energy. I'm sure Mew will be off the charts so just kind of average her with Mewtwo and that will be you." Riolu nodded, interested in seeing how the other legend would do. After what he saw from Mewtwo, he had to agree with Pikachu that Mew would be ecstatic. Both watched as Mew's clone came over and stood with them to see how Mew would do.

_"What are you two talking about? I could read your minds, but I feel that now that we are teammates Ash wouldn't approve of that."_

"Funny you should say that. I'm teaching Riolu about how pokemon take pride in their trainer." Pikachu explained, never looking away from Ash. Riolu nodded also looking at the boy.

_"Interesting. Care to explain further? I think I know what you are talking about, but it wouldn't be wise to ignore the advice my new trainer's oldest pokemon." _Mewtwo said.

"Finally! Nobody ever listens to me. Anyways ill explain once Mew is done, to save me explaining it twice. Just keep a close eye on her, even though I have the feeling that her reaction will be hard to miss." Pikachu said, watching the stiff and nervous pokemon be led by Ash to where Riolu was standing earlier. Riolu and Mewtwo both nodded, curious to see how the last of the newcomers handles Ash's test.

* * *

"Ok, Mew, you're up." Ash said, as he walked back to the floating psychic.

_"A-Alright, Ash."_ She said, as he walked her to the spot he was showing her. She was feeling nervous at the thought of him judging her moves. She just saw Mewtwo slice a tree in half like it was nothing. Sure she was powerful, but she wasn't on his level. Why did she let him go first? All it did was set her up for imminent failure.

"Hello?" She looked up to see Ash waving his hand in her face. "You were zoned out for a second, Mew." She blinked and realized that he was waiting on something, had he asked her a question? Oh, Arceus, she hasn't even done anything yet, and she was blowing it!

_"Y-y-yes?" _She asked, hoping he would say something. He didn't, he just looked at her thoughtfully for a second_. "D-did you ask m-me a question?"_ She was getting more nervous by the second, and if he didn't answer, she was going to freak. All of this happened in a few seconds, but it felt like a year to the poor cat-like pokemon. Her heart felt like it was going to explode from beating so fast. Ash sighed, and finally said something.

"Mew why are you so nervous again? I asked what moves you knew, but you're all stiff and not doing flips and flying around. And you're stuttering. Mentally! How's that even possible?" Ash said as he looked at his pokemon who was now looking at the ground. She said something about Mewtwo and power, but she didn't project loud enough for him to catch it. Instead he waved his hand in front of her face, and regained her attention.

"Mew calm down," Ash said using a little of his power to help. He wanted her to get over this on her own though. She relaxed a little and looked at him. "This is easy, just focus. What moves do you know? Mewtwo said you have an awesome moveset, so just start at the beginning." Mew perked her head up at that.

_"He said that? Well it's not that great really. Let's see I know psychic, metronome, mega punch, baton pass, dragon pulse, water pulse, ice beam, thunderbolt, solarbeam, hyper beam, aerial ace, and shadow ball. Oh and barrier. And calm mind. And… attract, but mom always said that attract is a dirty trick and so I never really use it. Plus I can turn into anything, and I can turn invisible." _Ash couldn't even believe what he was hearing. He just couldn't.

"Mew, that's… that's… I can't even find the words for it." Mew was starting to get nervous again. Was it that bad? Why did Mewtwo say it was good? "Mew that is amazing!" Ash finally said, once his shock wore off. "Your moveset is so good! Why didn't you tell me about all this?!" Mew did a double take. Surely it wasn't that good?

"Mew, ice beam!" Ash said, catching her off guard. She fired it at a stump he was pointing to, near the tree Mewtwo had sliced.

"Shadow ball!" She fired, and hit the stump. "Dragon pulse!" Again. After the last attack the stump was but sticks and a couple roots sticking out of the ground. "That's amazing Mew!" Ash said again. "You're incredible! We have this tournament in the bag." Ash had never been more glad that Mew only weighed a couple pounds, because she tackle/hugged him at full force and knocked him on the ground. She stayed in his hug for a couple seconds and then took off again. She helped him up with psychic, and hugged him more gently.

_"YAY! You don't hate me!" _Ash was confused why she would yell that of all things, but it was certainly true. _"I thought since I wasn't as strong as Mewtwo that you wouldn't let me battle, and I wouldn't still be on the team, and I would have to stay in my pokeball, and you would hate me! But you don't!"_ Ash sweatdropped at the pokemon's logic, but laughed as the previously nervous pokemon did laps around him.

She suddenly stopped right in his face, her nose mere inches from his. _"That means you love me! YAY! I love you too Ash!"_ She hit him in another hug, but this one was released because she noticed three pokemon that weren't participating in her and Ash's (really just her) party. Ash could only shake his head as he watched Mew go terrorize the others. He turned and saw Misty was calling him over for dinner from camp. He saw the pokemon talking about something, so he decided to head to dinner alone.

* * *

"Here she comes, brace for impact!" Pikachu yelled, as he and Riolu took to the fetal position. Mewtwo just sighed. This was what he dealt with on a daily basis when it was just him and Mew. Well not this extreme, but it could get pretty bad. Suddenly Mew stopped right in front of them. They all sighed in relief.

"_Did you all see? Ash said I was awesome! I was so worried."_ Mew said.

"Yeah it was great Mew!" Riolu said.

_"I told him that you had an exceptional moveset."_ Mewtwo said.

"Yeah I knew you'd be fine Mew. Every pokemon has to go through that little test whenever they get a trainer, and unless you try to fail, you should have no problem."

_"Really?"_ Mew asked. Pikachu nodded and then began to explain to both Mew and Mewtwo what he had been mentoring Riolu on. Mew and Mewtwo listened on with interest as Pikachu explained, and confirmed that the both felt such pride, although to different degrees. Pikachu talked about how they would be pushed both inside and outside of battle to make Ash proud, and how they would feel that pride within themselves when he praised them. By the end of his lecture, Pikachu had established himself as the go-to guide for Anything related to Ash, or to having any trainer for that matter.

"Wow, Ash sounds like a great trainer! I definitely felt it when he told me I did a good job." Mew said. Riolu and Mewtwo agreed with her.

"Well, this is just training. Wait until you win your first battle, then you will see what I'm talking about." Pikachu said. As they went back to camp to eat, each pokemon envisioned what that would be like.

The pokemon soon rejoined Ash and Misty, who were just finishing up their own dinner. Soon they were all tired from the long day behind them, even Mew. Ash finished packing up all of the pokemon food and supplies, and called everyone back. Riolu had no room to sleep, and so it was just Pikachu and Ash tonight. They heard soft breathing coming from Misty's sleeping bag, and started to fall asleep themselves.

"Ash all of them are counting on you to be good to them. Don't let them down." Pikachu said as it was falling asleep.

"I know Pikachu. I won't." And with that said, the whole camp fell silent.

* * *

**Ok i'll admit it. I didn't enjoy this chapter as much as the other 3, but thats probably because it took so long, and I had to read the same parts over, and over and over.**

**But it matters only what you think. And you know how you tell me what you think? Correct answer: Review. Also if you said tacos i'll accept that, mainly because I always accept tacos.**

**Alright, i'll leave ya'll alone now. Thanks for reading! **


	5. Training

**Congratulations. You have reached chapter 5 of this fanfiction. Let me just kick this off with yet another thank you for all the positive reviews. Thank you. **

**Ardtornismyname: The answer is maybe. I actually have decided but I must answer your question in a way that doesn't actually answer your question. The whole spoiler system and all that. Very delicate stuff.**

**iwish328: that was the correct answer. to collect your prize, simply run into a participating taco bell near you, while screaming my username (inflatedtaco). They will take it from there.**

**Well... that appears to be all on my checklist, so enjoy the chapter! Don't make me force you to enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Ash woke to the sound of rustling. He looked around and noticed it was early morning, probably about 8:00 or so, and Misty wasn't up yet. They were planning to get up soon, but not this early, so what was going on? He looked around and his eyes settled on some movement a few feet away. He noticed a yellow tail sticking up and realized it was Pikachu rummaging through his bag. He rubbed his eyes and watched his faithful starter for a moment before his curiosity got the better of him.

"Hey buddy what are you doing?" Ash said, still waking up. Pikachu snapped up at the sound of his trainer, and hid his hands behind his back. The pokemon's ears stiffened, and although the rest of him acted normal, Ash knew his friend was up to something.

"Just, uh, getting some breakfast. No need to worry!" Pikachu said, quoting their most recent travel partner.

"Uh huh, I'm sure. Why don't you come over here and eat?" said Ash, calling the electric type's bluff.

"Um no thanks I'm just going to sit over here behind this comfy log." Pikachu slowly backed away towards the log they used as a bench for camp last night. Ash narrowed his eyes at the pokemon who was now sweating bullets. Pikachu never liked making his trainer mad, and often times he would do everything to avoid it. However, some things in life were worth it, and this was one of them.

"What do you have to eat there buddy? I can't see it since you're holding it behind your back." Ash was already edging out of his sleeping bag for the chase that was sure to follow.

"Uh, pika pika, pikapi?" Pikachu said desperately. Ash held his gaze steady.

"Why don't you hand over the ketchup, and we can save ourselves fifteen minutes?" Suddenly Pikachu had a glare of his own as the challenge was thrown out in the open. He pulled the packet of ketchup out from behind his back and clutched it to his chest. He began sparking and stared defiantly into the eyes of his trainer.

"Why don't you come try and make me?" Pikachu and Ash stared each other down for a second, and Ash shot off towards the pokemon. "Oh shit!" and in the blink of an eye the mouse was gone. Ash kept right on his tail as he zigzagged around the camp and a sleeping Misty. Pikachu and Ash kept up for a solid five minutes, not slowing down a bit.

"Why do we have to do this every week Pikachu?" Ash panted, slowly gaining on his starter.

"Wyf don yu let ne ave it?" Pikachu called back through the ketchup which he was now carrying in his mouth. If he could only stop for a second to open it… but Ash was right behind him so he had to keep his pace up.

"You know it's a reward!" Ash said. He and Pikachu had had this conversation many times, and it just wouldn't get through the pokemon's head.

"Ok Ash, I'll take care of Suicune for you." Both Ash and Pikachu quit their weekly game of Ash and mouse, and looked over at the sleeping gym leader who was now sleeping soundly again. Both sweatdropped as they realized what she had just said, but it only lasted a second before Ash capitalized on the distraction.

"Got ya!" he cheered, as he lifted up his starter and tried to wrestle the condiment out of his hands. Finally, after a minute of trying, he got enough leverage to rip it out of the mouse's death grip. Pikachu flailed in his trainer's arms, trying to reach the small pack of heaven as it left his world forever.

"NOOOOO!" the electric type yelled in defeat. He could only hope that this cruel demon holding him would make his death swift, now that it had taken all that he loved from this world.

"Seriously Pikachu, it's just ketchup! Stop being so dramatic." Ash said as he carried the pokemon back to his sleeping bag. He set him down and put the pack back in his bag, which he then zipped shut.

"What's going on Ash? I heard Pikachu yell, is he ok?" Misty asked as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"No." Pikachu said, pouting.

"He's fine. He's just mad that I won't let him have some ketchup that he tried to sneak from my bag." Ash said as he looked over at the girl. She looked over at the pouting mouse and started giggling.

"He's still crazy about ketchup, huh? I remember when that whole thing started." Misty said as she thought about her first travels with Ash.

"Yeah, he loves the stuff and always tries to guzzle it down. I try to use it as a reward though. It wouldn't help if he put on a lot of weight and lost his speed. That's his major advantage in battle." Ash said this as he threw on a shirt and grabbed his pack, and started rummaging around for some breakfast food.

"What are you looking for?" Misty asked as she watched the boy.

"Breakfast. I was hoping to eat then go get some training done. Since Pikachu woke me up I might as well get something done." Misty nodded then crawled out of her bed.

"Can I come?" Misty asked as she stretched her back.

"I don't see why not. But why do you want to come?"

"What else am I supposed to do?" Misty asked. "Besides, my pokemon need training too." Ash nodded, and fished out some pop-tarts and a couple pecha berries for Pikachu. The electric type loved the berries second only to ketchup, and cheered when he saw his trainer take them out.

"Here, this is for not getting the ketchup. Besides, these are actually good for you." Pikachu snatched the apology out of his Ash's outstretched hand and began to nibble on a berry. He nodded and Ash took that as 'apology accepted'. He picked up the eating pokemon and took him over to the other side of the clearing where he would have enough room for some training. He set him down on the rock, and turned around to see Misty walking over with some fruit. They sat there under a tree eating for a second, before Misty spoke up.

"So who are you working with today Ash? I thought you trained your new team last night."

"Well, that was only a small training session. I told them that I needed to learn their moves, and so I was going over what they knew while you made dinner. Today will be a full training session with some of my other pokemon. Nobody else has met any of my new team yet, so I was hoping to introduce them today, and get them into the habit of listening to me. I'll have my older pokemon brush up on some moves too. Basically it will be a day to get back in the step of things." Ash thought of all that was on the agenda today, and realized that he had best get started soon. He finished off his breakfast, and wiped off his hands and stood up.

"Who are you training?" Ash asked as he fished through his bag looking for certain pokeballs.

"Just a couple of my older pokemon and vaporeon." She stood up next to Ash as he walked away from the tree a little bit. Ash threw up some pokeballs and sent out his team with the exception of his three newest members. They all looked at him, and from the way things were, expected there to be some training in the near future.

"Alright guys, here is what's going on. There are some new members of the team you need to meet." All of the pokemon started whispering, and speculated amongst themselves who it would be. They figured Ash would get some new team members, but this was barely a couple days into their journey! "Ok, come on out!" Ash threw the remaining three pokeballs, and sent out the newest members of his team. Everyone's eyes went wide at the sight of the two legendaries.

_"What's up everybody?"_ Mew said as she looked at the gathered pokemon. They stood silent, staring slack-jawed at the legendary cat._ "Hello!"_ She waved her paws trying to get their attention, but nobody said anything. Mew huffed at that. _"Ash, your pokemon are broken!"_ She said as she flew over to her trainer, and settled on his shoulder with her arms crossed. All stares then diverted to Mewtwo. Honestly, Riolu probably could have started setting off fireworks and they wouldn't have noticed him.

Mewtwo gazed over all of them, and his eyes landed on Charizard. The two stared at each other, measuring each other up, and knowing that they had competition to be the powerhouse on Ash's team. Mewtwo held his gaze with the same calm fury that he built up over the previous four years. Charizard also held a powerful gaze, fueled by an internal fire, one that had driven him to become one of Ash's most powerful pokemon. The two continued their stare down, until it was interrupted by their trainer.

"Well as you can tell guys, we have a couple new members on the team." Ash announced as he managed to get Mewtwo and Charizard to end their silent feud, and focus on him. He stepped in the middle of the two parties, and pointed to the new group.

"This is Riolu." Everyone registered the pokemon for the first time, and shouted various greetings over to the energetic fighting type. Buizel recognized Riolu and came forward to say hi. Riolu responded with a quick greeting and Ash explained how he had met the pokemon in the Sinnoh region, and how they were bonded through aura. Then he moved on to Mew who was on his shoulder, and everyone returned their gaze to the energetic legendary.

"This is Mew. Some of you may recognize her from… oh wait. Mewtwo could you un-block Charizard and Bulbasaur's memories too?" Mewtwo nodded and held out his paw. Memories flooded the two pokemon as well as Misty, and Bulbasaur went wide eyed at the psychic as he realized who was in front of him. He then looked at Ash rememebering. how he had died, and went up to his trainer, who picked him up in a hug. "It's alright buddy." He said softly to one of his first pokemon. Mew, who was still on Ash's shoulder, looked down at the ground sadly, knowing she was half to blame for her trainer's past death. Ash set Bulbasaur down, and took the pink cat off his shoulder.

"It's ok Mew, I forgive you and Mewtwo." Ash said as he looked between both legends. Mew felt a lot better as Ash rubbed her head, but Mewtwo wasn't paying his trainer any attention, instead he was focused on the other of Ash's team that he had restored. Charizard was pissed as he remembered all that happened on New Island, and started growling at Mewtwo, who stared down the draconic pokemon.

All the pokemon stepped back and Ash, who finally noticed what was going on was about to intercede when Charizard fired a powerful flamethrower at the psychic, who raised his hand and put up a psychic barrier. Everyone gasped as the scalding river of fire washed over the psychic sheild. The attack would have all but decimated a weaker pokemon, but Mewtwo was able to hold it off, and as the flamethrower ended he threw a shadow ball back at Charizard. The dual type barely dodged it, and shot off into the air as he unleashed an impossibly powerful fire-blast back at the clone. Mewtwo teleported out of the way and behind Charizard, and captured him in a psychic grip. As he was about to slam Charizard into the ground, his trainer finally came out of shock and took action.

"STOP!" Ash yelled. Mewtwo did just that and set Charizard down forcefully. Neither pokemon was happy about having their power struggle interrupted, and continued to glare at their opponent. "That's not how we're going to start this off! If you two want to be on my team you need to see each other as teammates!" Both continued to eye one another and finally they broke off the staring contest and looked at their trainer.

_"My apologies, Ash. I had forgotten that you had an untrained lizard on your team. I was merely trying to teach it to mind its manners."_ Mewtwo said, looking back at Charizard.

"As though an arrogant legendary would know anything about manners. I've taken down legendaries before, and I'm not going to be taking your bullshit, clone. He killed you Ash! Why did you even let him on the team?" Charizard snarled, as he and Mewtwo got ready for round two. He looked down at his trainer, awaiting a response, and Ash stared down his dual type.

"I was about to tell you why Mew and Mewtwo are here, and then you snapped! And I've already forgiven him and Mew for what happened on New Island." All of his team with the exception of Pikachu, Charizard and Bulbasaur looked curious at that because none of them had a clue of what they were talking about. Ash ignored them and kept talking. "Anyways," he started, throwing a last glance at Charizard and Mewtwo, "this is Mew. She wanted to be in battles and to see the world, so she asked to come with us." All the pokemon nodded, knowing that another big factor was probably that he was the Chosen One, but everyone was too busy eying the last newcomer to say anything.

"And this is Mewtwo. I met him on an island called New Island way back at the start of my journey, before the Indigo League." All the pokemon were surprised at how long ago they had met, but kept quiet. "He was having some trouble finding his place in the world so I helped him out." _'Bullshit'_ thought everyone there. All of his pokemon knew that meant that he probably risked his life somehow in an epic adventure, and Pikachu, Charizard, and Bulbasaur snorted at the claim. Mewtwo just shook his head.

"Really Ash, cause I remember you running out and getting yourself killed." Misty said, finally speaking up. She had been about to say something before Charizard and Mewtwo interrupted, but now she was going to let him have it. As the pokemon gasped at what she said, she continued. "Yeah how is getting blasted by two legendaries and turned to stone, 'helping him find his place in the world'?" Everyone gasped _again_ and looked at the Pallet native.

"Well, I had to stop them so I just ran out there. It helped didn't it?" Ash said, thinking back to that day. Everyone there, save Mewtwo, face palmed at the boy's logic.

"Ash it only helped because you were killed, and brought back to life with tears. Tears! If that isn't literally the saddest thing that's ever happened I'll sell the gym." As Misty said that, all the pokemon looked at their trainer shaking their heads. They all knew he did something stupid, and of course he ran out between two legendary pokemon in the middle of their attacks.

"Yeah, but he was fine by Johto and that's all that matters." Ash retaliated. The pokemon continued their synchronized reactions, and tilted their heads at the boy's claims. When did they meet a second time?

_"Actually I was still struggling with an internal identity crisis."_ Mewtwo said, looking down at his trainer.

"Pansy." Charizard grunted. The two started to stare each other down again.

"Ok that's it!" Ash yelled getting everyone to look at him. "Let's get back on track! I met Mewtwo again in Johto and saved him from Team Rocket." No surprise there, just another dangerous adventure. "I haven't seen him in 3 years, until the other day when he appeared with Riolu in the pokemon center."

"Wait Ash, you can't just blow that off! I thought what we did was a huge adventure, but now you're saying you had bigger ones?" Riolu said amazed that his trainer had done what he said. Ash groaned. Could he not just get to the training?

"Yeah Riolu, he does this kind of stuff like every day! You better get used to it too, cause I guarantee it will happen to you sooner or later now that you're with Ash." Pikachu said. "He's the Chosen One, after all, so this is his job." All the pokemon nodded at the mouse's wisdom.

"Oh yeah." Riolu said, already forgetting what Ash's job description was.

"Ok, no more interruptions!" Ash shut everyone up then continued. "We'll have story time later, but we're going to have some training first. Mewtwo and Riolu appeared in the pokemon center, and asked to join the team so I let them. Now that means that he, Mew and Riolu are all just as much a part of the team as you guys, and you guys are going to treat them like teammates, got it?" Ash explained, looking directly at Charizard as he finished.

They all agreed cheerfully, and Charizard mumbled something incoherent but it sounded like agreement so Ash moved on. "Ok, we're going to have a quick snack then get started, ok?" Everyone agreed, and the young trainer gave each pokemon a berry to eat before they got started. He learned the hard way a while back to not have a big meal before training, and found that berries actually help a pokemon if eaten before training.

Once everyone was done, he started pairing them up. The only ones that he didn't pair up were Mew, Mewtwo, Riolu and Pikachu.

"Alright guys, here's what we're doing. Everyone have a mock battle with your partner as a way to get back into the spirit of battling. I don't have much medicine, so if your partner asks to stop then you gotta stop." All of the pokemon dispersed and began a bunch of small battles spread out across the clearing. The four he didn't address turned to look at him, wondering what they would be doing.

"You four are doing something special. Since you haven't had trainers before, I'm going to get you used to having one, and Pikachu will be my assistant." Pikachu nodded sagely already understanding Ash's rare wisdom. The others, however, had no clue what that meant.

_"What do you mean? We just do what you tell us, right?"_ Mew asked, as she tilted her head at her trainer. Ash smiled, and Pikachu laughed, further confusing the trio. As he was about to explain, he was nailed in his side by a blue blur. He looked up into the face of a pleased vaporeon, and looked past her to see Misty and her pokemon running over.

"Hi, Chosen One!" Vaporeon said as she rubbed up against Ash.

"It's nice to see you too Vaporeon, but could you get off me?" Ash said as he took in his situation.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Vaporeon said as she got off the poor boy.

"Vaporeon would you leave… no way Ash you're the Chosen One!" Corsola said as she was the first of Misty's pokemon on the scene, soon followed by the others. Her gyrados, politoed and corsola stood awed at their past friend who was now a legend.

"Wait you all know him?" Vaporeon said as she looked back at them.

"Yeah he used to travel with us!" Politoed said excited. Gyrados looked around at the other three confused, wondering how they already knew the Chosen One.

"I think he told me that." Vaporeon said as she tried to remember.

"Sorry about that Ash, I don't know what's gotten into her. I just let these four out for some training and she ran over." Misty panted, finally catching up to them.

"That's alright," Ash said, standing up. "She just wanted to talk."

"Oh, ok, at least she didn't cause any trouble." Misty said. "Alright guys we need to do our own training so let's leave them alone."

"What, no! All we do is train; we should take a break and hang out with the Chosen One!" Vaporeon said as she stared at Misty defiantly. Misty understood the underlying meaning, and held her ground.

"Come on Vaporeon, Ash has his own training to do!" The two stared each other down, until finally the trainer in question voiced his own opinion.

"Sorry Vaporeon, but Misty's right. Me and my pokemon have some things to do so you should go with her, ok? We can hang out later I promise." Ash said bending down to the pokemon's level. Misty smirked in victory as she heard him take her side. It was short lived, however, as Vaporeon wasn't fazed by that at all.

"Ok!" Vaporeon cheered, happily heading back in the direction she came from, along with all of her other pokemon. Misty watched her pokemon leave, and finally registered what had just happened. Ash being the Chosen One certainly had some influence, it seemed.

"That's not fair; I wish she would listen to me like that!" Misty huffed as she went back to join her pokemon.

_"It looks like you've made a new fan Ash!"_ Mew said as she and Pikachu laughed at what just happened.

"Having fans hurts." Ash groaned, stretching his back. "Anyways we need to get back on track." Ash looked around and all of his pokemon that had stopped to watch the previous scene got back to work. "What was I talking about?" Ash said as he thought back.

"Teaching us the secret to having a trainer, I think." said Riolu.

"Oh yeah! Anyways, having a trainer is going to change some things, mainly the way you battle. The first thing you need to learn is that when I give a command, you need to do it without hesitation." Ash said looking between the tree new recruits. Pikachu jumped on his trainers shoulder, and tried to help explain.

"See guys, right now you are still technically 'wild'," Pikachu did some air quotes, "and you battle a lot differently than anyone here. The main difference is that all trained pokemon do far less thinking in a battle because that's the trainer's job. Right now you think about where your opponent is, where they will be, what move would be best for the scenario you're in, and how to execute that move. Then you have to do the move while keeping an eye on all the factors you just figured out." All the pokemon, even Mewtwo, went wide-eyed having never thought of it like that before.

"But now that's all Ash's job." Pikachu and the others looked to the boy, who nodded. "All you have to do is focus on doing whatever he tells you, and even that's a little tricky since whoever you're fighting is doing the same thing." They all looked between their poke-mentor and their trainer trying to digest everything that was just told to them.

_"It seems as though I have underestimated your role in battling Ash." _Mewtwo said with an even stronger respect for the Pallet native, now that he would be putting his health in his hands.

"It sounds like a lot, but trust me you'll get it down pretty quickly." Ash stated. "The first thing we're going to do is attack cycling. Pikachu, can you explain? You seem to be pretty good at this stuff." Ash looked at his starter, who nodded.

"That's cause I've done this with all your other pokemon too." Pikachu said with pride.

"Really?" Ash had no clue his favorite pokemon had helped that much, but made a mental note to give him that ketchup after all.

"Yep. Anyways attack cycling is basically where he calls out a bunch of different attacks and you do them as fast as possible."

_"That doesn't sound too bad."_ Mew said, thinking this would be a simple game of Simon Says.

"It isn't, at first." Pikachu said grinning. "The point is to get you used to listening to Ash, so he will get faster and faster and it gets really hard." The three started to realize just what they had gotten themselves into, and how hard it might actually get. Ash called them over to an edge of the clearing where there were a bunch of logs. A storm had obviously passed through not too long ago, and left a perfect target range for them to use.

"Ok Riolu, you're first." Ash called the blue fighting type up, and pointed to a log. The pokemon was eager to get going and awaited Ash's first command.

"Ready?" Riolu nodded.

"Ok start with an aura sphere." Riolu charged the move, and blasted the end of the log off. "Force palm." Riolu ran up to the log, and blasted the new end off of it. "Jump back and aura sphere." He did, consecutively working his way down the log. "Quick attack into force palm." Ash kept calling moves faster and making them more complex. Finally Riolu was panting hard, and in his fatigue messed up a sequence.

"Ok, enough, stop." Ash said, halting the small pokemon. "Great job! Not everyone does that well their first time. Come over here and take a break while Mew and Mewtwo do it too. The fighting type ran over and sat down on the ground, resisting the urge to lay down. He didn't want to seem weak for his first training session. Pikachu came and congratulated him, and both turned to watch Mew, who was next.

Mew was focused as she stepped up to the plate, awaiting Ash's first command. She silently sifted through all the moves she knew, and visualized herself doing all of them.

"Ready?" Ash asked, much the same as when Riolu tried.

_"Yep!"_ Mew chirped, remaining focused on the logs before her.

"Let's get started then. Water Pulse!" Ash yelled as he watched the legendary fire the ball of water. Like before, he began to cycle through attacks and sequences of attacks. Mew handled everything he could throw at her, without even breaking a sweat, and soon it was Ash who was hard pressed to come up with new ways to use her attacks. Finally, she tripped up when he had her combine multiple offensive and defensive attacks. Both Ash and Pikachu were very impressed with how well she did for her first time. No other pokemon Ash had done this with reacted as quickly as she did; most would hesitate or instinctively do their own move choices.

_"How'd I do?"_ Mew asked excitedly, already knowing she did well. She was panting, and flew over to her trainer, awaiting his response.

"That was great Mew! It's like you've been with a trainer before." Ash praised, making the pink cat break into a smile and cheer as she sat down next to Pikachu and Riolu to watch the last of the three, Mewtwo.

_"I am prepared, Ash, and I will do my best."_ Mewtwo said looking at his trainer. He stepped into place, and eyed the few remaining fallen trees that Mew hadn't obliterated.

"That's all I could ask Mewtwo. Let's see what you got, ready?" Mewtwo nodded. "Ok, psycho cut!" Mewtwo focused and formed the psychic blade in his paw, aiming it at the nearest log. It sliced clean through, leaving only shrapnel in its wake. "Great, now shadow ball!" The clone prepped the new move in his hand and fired, resulting in even move devastation than before. Ash got into the rhythm of things, and Mewtwo tried to keep up. He was fast, very fast, but he could feel his reaction time slipping as instincts took over. After so many years of independence, his mind did things on its own, and he had to fight his instincts to listen to his new trainer. He did well, but fell the fastest of the three of them. He looked at what he deemed to be failure and turned to his trainer.

_"I am sorry Ash, I have failed you." _Mewtwo said, as he felt the disappointment of letting himself and Ash down. '_Pikachu was right'_, he decided, _'I let Ash down and now I feel awful.'_

"No you haven't." Ash replied, and the clone studied him curiously. "To be honest, you did better than I thought you would. I mean you've hated humans all your life, I hardly expected you to listen to me like it was second nature." Mewtwo listened to Ash's explanation and realized that his trainer hit the nail on the head. "But that's the point of the exercise, so you can get used to having a trainer. We'll try again later, but now Riolu's up again."

The fighting type realized break time was over, and hopped back up. He took up the same position and Ash began again, training the three in the same way for a while. His other pokemon would continue battling, and occasionally switch partners. Misty had finished up training (her pokemon kept trying to watch Ash), and was walking over to talk to the boy, when a shadow passed over her head. Ash heard her scream, and turned to see Misty running over pointing to a big bird shape descending from the sky. Ash smiled.

Pidgeot landed and bowed his head, not getting a good look at the human before him. He saw all of his powerful pokemon upon descent, and that was incentive enough for the bird to remember his humility.

"Chosen One, I was informed this morning of your request to see me. I came as fast as I could, although I would have been here faster if those bugs had worked up the nerve to tell me sooner." Pidgeot explained, still keeping his head bowed in the presence of the legend in front of him.

"I think you came fast enough pidgeot. I mean, it took me almost four years to come to you." The Chosen One said, and Pidgeot froze. It sounded older, a little stronger, and a little more experienced, but _never_ would Pidgeot forget the voice of his old trainer. He opened his eyes and slowly looked up, not wanting the see what he expected to see. Sure enough, there stood his old trainer, and even Misty was still with him! For whatever reason, she was hiding behind Ash, and now was stepping out from her human shield.

"Ash, is that you?" Pidgeot asked, awed at what the boy had become.

"Ash you know this Pigeot?" Misty asked at the same time.

"Yeah it's me buddy. And Misty, this is the same Pidgeot I left to defend the forest before the Orange League, remember?" Both looked shocked at these revelations and asked the same question.

"How could you leave for four years! You said you were coming back!" They both yelled at the overwhelmed trainer.

"I know guys, I meant to too, really!" They both glared at him. "I... uh… well… Is there any way I can make it up to you? I asked you to come here because I want you to rejoin the team, but I understand if you wouldn't want to. Four years is a long time." Ash said remembering the old times with the bird. He looked down at the ground ashamed. By now all of his pokemon were watching the scene, and Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Charizard were restraining themselves from greeting the flying type. This was his and Ash's moment.

"I could rejoin the team. There are now four other pidgeot, and even though I'm the strongest they could easily defend the flock, and we took out that group of spearow finally, last year. But just because I can doesn't mean I will." Ash nodded and waited on the pokemon to fly away so he could go sulk over his lost friend. "If you want me to rejoin, I want something in return." Ash looked up. A glimmer of hope?

"Anything. I'll do anything to pay you back." Ash said instantly.

"We had a lot of good times, you, me and the rest of your team." As he said this, he looked at the three other originals present, who nodded their heads remembering all the fun they had together. "And obviously your team has expanded, a lot. And it will keep doing so, because you are the Chosen One now, which I still can't believe." Ash and the others smiled at this, except for Misty who was dying to know what the pokemon was saying. She bit her tongue though, and kept quiet. "So in order for me to rejoin you, I need to know you're going to let me battle."

"Of course!" Ash said, not believing that was the only stipulation.

"I mean it Ash. Knowing you, you're already preparing for some league aren't you?" Pidgeot said, getting it right on his first try. Ash nodded and the bird continued. "Then I want to be a part of it." Ash smiled and hugged his old friend, ecstatic that he was coming back on the team.

"Awww that's adorable! You two made up!" Misty teased Ash, who only glared back at her.

"Well what are you waiting for, you gotta catch me." Pidgeot said pointing to a pokeball on his belt. He pulled it out, and touched it against Pidgeot, who was captured without resistance. He let the flying type back out, and they began to chat amicably, as Pikachu and the other kanto natives ran up to talk to the bird.

* * *

"So then his Regice used rest _again_." All the pokemon gasped as they realized the pickle Ash and Pikachu were in. "So I had Pikachu use volt tackle, because I figured he wouldn't be able to reach him with iron tail fast enough. He started running and right as Regice woke up; Pikachu scored a critical, nailing it in the face. Regice finally went down and we won." Ash finished recounting his battle with Brandon, and everyone cheered at his victory over the Battle Frontier.

After Pidgeot had rejoined, training had all but dissolved. Ash, Pidgeot and Misty began swapping stories, and soon everyone had gathered around to listen. They all sat around in a big circle, with all eyes aimed at the young trainer. Mewtwo and Charizard stood on opposite sides of the circle, trying to be on their best behavior. All of the smaller pokemon were in the front, around the log that Ash Pikachu and Misty were sitting on.

"That's amazing Ash!" Misty said. "I wanted to be there for that, but I couldn't get away for that long."

"What's more amazing is that I kicked a legendary pokemon's ass!" Pikachu said, cheering. Everyone laughed at the small mouse's enthusiasm, except Misty who couldn't understand the pokemon.

"What did he say, Ash?" Misty asked, confused, as she turned towards the laughing boy.

"Trust me; it's better for your sanity if I don't translate what Pikachu says." Ash said. Everyone laughed, and even Mewtwo smiled, as a 'hey!' came out of his starter pokemon. As he stopped laughing, Ash noticed something didn't feel right, and looked around trying to find the source of his delimma. Suddenly it clicked. It was late afternoon!

"Oh no! Misty we were supposed to be in Pewter City like three hours ago!" All of the pokemon went into a panic at Ash's revelation and he started recalling everyone. "We have like ten miles to go before it gets dark!"

"Ash, I could-" Charizard started, before he was sucked back in.

"Ash wait, I think Charizard was saying-" Pidgeot tried to say, before he was sucked in as well.

_"Ash, I'm pretty sure-" _Mewtwo was gone too.

_"Hey Ash, if I transform, and ride on your shoulder, can I stay out of my pokeball?"_ Mew asked, putting on the cutest face she could muster. Ash paused. That was actually a pretty good idea… but thinking took time which he had none of. And to be honest thinking wasn't usually his ideal hobby anyway.

"Uh… ask me later." Just like that, she was gone too. He took all his pokeballs, and threw them in his bag. With camp cleaned up at light speed, Ash and Misty only paused for a second to make sure they had everything. Pikachu took advantage of the momentary cease-fire to hop on his trainer's shoulder. Ash and Misty finished their check and shot off down the trail, with the electric type riding his shoulder holding on for dear life.

Ash ran through the woods as the trail tightened, obscuring any vision of what lay ahead. He tripped on a rock, and tumbled forward, clutching Pikachu to his chest as he rolled down the hill. He tumbled, and rolled as Pikachu nearly threw up from being the center of Ash's rotations. Finally he was stopped as he slammed into the side of… the Pewter City Pokemon Center?

"Ash! I thought you said we were a few hours away!" Misty panted, as she cought up with the Pallet native, who was sprawled across the ground with a dizzy Pikachu stumbling around him. "That was just thirty seconds. We just cleaned up the camp in a couple seconds and took off down the road, for nothing! Which means… we camped out right next to the Pokemon Center!" Ash and Misty groaned as that fact set in.

_ 'Hitting his head on the wall probably didn't make a dent in his intelligence.' _decided the electric type as he stumbled in Ash's general direction, trying to regain a hold on reality.

"Somehow I'm not surprised that it was you who slammed into the wall, Ash. In fact I thought it was probably you before I even looked." An injured Ash, a pissed Misty, and an almost stable Pikachu all looked to see Brock Harrison, former Pewter City Gym leader, and current ladies man, standing in the back door of the Pokemon Center.

"Great to see you too, Brock."

* * *

**"YAY!"**

**Mew get the hell out of my author's note! *mew leaves, crying* Good, she's gone. How was the chapter? Good? Bad? Ugly? Review! also if you review please leave the following: Something good, bad, and something that needs fixing. I'll demonstrate:**

**Inflated taco: OMG NO WAyz he has pigyot! Misty needs moar senes though. And ur gramer suks.**

**See easy right?**

**Anyways I come with some good news and bad news.**

**Good: THIS STORY IS NOT BEING DISCONTINUED! I wanted to stress that before the bad news.**

**Bad: Due to the release of Borderlands 2, I am acting upon my civic duty to play the shit out of that game. Therefore, the next update won't be as fast. Considering that I gave you 5 chapters in half a month, yall can wait. It wont be too long though, i'll work on it. I don't have work Friday and Saturday (thank god) so I will probably get a lot done then.**

**Check my profile! I will post how many words I have on chapters as I work on them.**

**As always, thanks for reading! See ya next time!**


	6. Reuniting

**I LIIIIIIVE! After 2 weeks of waiting, your patience has been rewarded. I give thee Chapter 6. Sorry it took so long, hopefully the next chapter will be faster. Anywhos... enjoy!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I don't own pokemon.

"Here, let me help you up." Brock said as he grabbed his friend's forearm and hauled him to his feet. Ash grunted in thanks, and picked up his nauseated starter. "Hi, Misty, nice to see you again." Misty grumbled something in response and stomped into the pokemon center. "What's up with her?" Brock asked, as Ash started to follow her.

"Oh um, I made her a little mad." Ash said as he rubbed the back of his sore head. Brock and Pikachu face palmed. Pikachu knew what happened, of course, but Brock knew his traveling partners' history, and was certain that Ash did something stupid that pissed her off.

"What did you do this time, Ash?" Brock sighed as he said that, and stared Ash down, waiting for an answer. Ash was trying to downplay the whole incident but he never got the chance.

"What did he do?!" Misty yelled, storming back in the room. "This idiot had us camp out all night a hundred yards away from here! He thought we were miles away, when we were only seconds. My poor back…" Misty rubbed her back, and glared at the trainer in question, who avoided her deadly gaze.

"She's so full of it, she slept fine." Pikachu said, "Oh Ash, I'll watch Suicune for you!" Pikachu impersonated Misty and little hearts appeared in his eyes. Ash couldn't help but laugh, which did nothing to help his situation. Brock looked at Ash curiously. He knew he could understand Pikachu, but that was weird. It wasn't Brock that Ash was looking at though. Misty intensified her glare at the boy, and was balling her fists.

"Care to explain what you're laughing at Ash?" Misty said with a feigned innocence.

"Oh, um, nothing, just funny… weather?" Ash said weakly, already taking steps backwards. Misty followed.

"Oh, really? You wanna hear something else funny? How about the fact that we were RIGHT NEXT TO THE POKEMON CENTER! You made me sleep in the Viridian Forest, when there was bug-free civilization right here!" The gym leader yelled at the scared trainer, and stomped towards him. "Now come here!" Ash ran like the wind out the door, with Misty right behind him. Brock watched with a feeling of nostalgia as the two ran around the field, when something occurred to him.

"Hey Misty, why are you with Ash? Shouldn't you be at the gym? And for that matter, what are you doing, Ash?" Brock had an idea as to why Misty was with Ash again; he was a smart guy after all (if not lucky in his own endeavors). Misty stopped chasing Ash, and turned towards their third amigo of the original trio. She knew that the ex-gym leader was onto her, and she fought down a small blush forming on her face. It wouldn't help at all if Brock knew for certain, so she tried to sound as inconspicuous as possible when answering.

"Ah… um… I…" The orange haired girl stumbled for a second, trying to explain how they had crossed paths. She was saved, however, by Ash who was oblivious to the girl's dilemma.

"I'm training for a tournament! Misty was coming to meet me when I got back from Sinnoh, but was held up by inspections. I ran into her on Route 1, and helped her with Team Rocket. She said she wanted to travel with me again, and that was that." Brock nodded his head in understanding, his curiosity satiated for now. Pikachu smirked at his trainers continued ignorance, and ran back up to his now peaceful shoulder. Misty agreed with the boy, and internally thanked him. With that, the three began to move back inside.

"So are you here to be a doctor?" Ash asked as the three settled at a table in the lobby. Misty tilted her head at Brock, not knowing what Ash was talking about.

"Nope!" Brock said. Seeing his friends' confused faces, he explained. "Misty, during Sinnoh I decided I wanted to be a pokemon doctor. When Ash and I split up, I came back here to see what it would take to be a doctor. Nurse Joy explained that it would take hundreds of thousands of dollars for medical school, and that the only pokemon I could have would be Chansey. I love interacting with pokemon, and that's what drove me to be a breeder, but as a doctor I wouldn't get to do that much with pokemon, besides heal sick ones. Also she showed me some pictures of how bad it gets." Brock shuddered. "So I'm back to being a breeder." Ash laughed.

"That was fast! Well, whatever you decide-" Ash was interrupted by his own stomach, and he rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed, "I hope it involves dinner!" Brock Misty and Pikachu laughed at their friend. At Brock's suggestion the three went to the cafeteria for dinner. The three walked into the room, and Ash immediately spotted the dinner buffet. It wasn't the best, but he'd be damned to miss out on free food. He took two steps into the room, and every pokemon there, about 7 or 8, stopped and turned to look at him. It was a little creepy, sure, but he was getting used to it and got his food as the pokemon whispered behind his back.

He sat down, with Misty and Brock shortly behind him. Brock looked around and noticed the pokemon staring at his friend, with some of the trainers following their gazes.

"Hey Ash, why are all those pokemon staring at you like that?" Brock didn't think he would know, but it was the best place to start. Ash couldn't tell brock here, especially with a bunch of people in the same room, and blew it off.

"They probably just know a good trainer when they see one." Ash replied coolly, digging into some rice. Misty smirked, and Pikachu chuckled through his pokemon food, but both kept silent enough to not raise the former gym leader's suspicions, or so they thought.

_'That's weird, normally Misty would tear Ash up for letting something go to his head, what changed?'_ Brock merely shook his head and let the thought go for now. He had no leads, and other things to question his friends on. "So what are your plans then, oh master trainer? You said you were training for a tournament but that leaves a lot out." Brock stopped eating and waited on a reply.

"And to be honest Ash, you never told me much about this tournament, now that I think about it." Misty added. Both of his friends looked at him, awaiting an answer. Ash looked around and noticed everyone doing their own things again, although some pokemon were stealing glances at him, and decided it was safe enough to confide his precious intel.

"Ok, here is what's happening. The league is throwing a tournament for only the best trainers. I don't know too much about it and nothing is official or public yet, but apparently all the best will be there. Some gym leaders, Elite Four members, even champions. You can't even apply unless you have reached the top four in a regional tournament, and even then they still need to accept your application." Ash finished and Misty scoffed.

"Why would they be hosting a tournament like that? And what makes you think they would even accept you Ash?" Misty asked bluntly, wondering what made him think he could have a shot at getting in. Ash's temper flared and he was about to respond when Brock did it for him.

"Well, his resume is pretty good." Brock said, earning his friends' attention. "He has competed in every tournament in just four years, not to mention he won the Orange league, and the Kanto Battle Frontier. I hear that only a handful of people have beaten the Battle frontier since we have been in Sinnoh, so that sets Ash apart. Of course he placed top four in the Sinnoh League, so that qualifies as an entry point." Ash nodded agreeing with his sage friend, and took another bite of his rice. "What I want to know is how you found out about this tournament?" Ash choked on his food and looked back at his friend. How was he supposed to explain that a he had a legendary pokemon that happened to know league secrets? Luckily his first pokemon came to his rescue.

"Just say professor Oak told you. That's how we've started a bunch of other adventures." Pikachu said, acting like he wasn't talking to Ash.

"Professor Oak told me." Ash said, hoping his friends would accept his excuse. They both nodded, luckily, and before they could press the issue they were interrupted by Nurse Joy.

"Brock, your pokemon are all better. Forrest's are too, if you want to take them back with you as well." Joy walked in with a tray of six pokeballs, three of which had tiny stickers of Boulder Badges on them. Brock said thanks, and after some small talk he took the balls and sat back down, only to see the bewildered looks of his friends.

"Did you just let Nurse Joy get away without flirting with her?" Misty asked, her hand still in the air waiting to pinch Brock's ear.

"And when did you start battling?" Ash asked, equally amazed at his friends behavior.

"Guys calm down. Nurse Joy is a longtime friend. Sure she's pretty but I haven't hit on her in a while. And to answer your question Ash, I was helping Forrest get some practice in. He has been pretty busy since we were in Sinnoh, and has his own pokemon now. His Rhyperior is nothing to laugh at, and only Steelix can give it a fight. Even Marshtomp and Ludicolo can't beat it. Some kid named Kevin keeps trying to challenge Forrest, but he's not really any sort of competition." Everyone besides Brock laughed, and they explained to Brock what happened in Viridian City. "Oh wow, that sure sounds like him. Hopefully he'll learn his lesson, and be more prepared next time. Anyways I've been battling Forrest the past couple days to keep him in shape, and that's why I'm here, to get our pokemon healed."

"Wow he sounds really good now. You think he would let me battle him?" Ash asked, jumping out of his chair in excitement. Pikachu took the same pose of his trainer and both looked at Brock, who chuckled at his friends.

"Of course! I think he still has a couple fresh pokemon if he hasn't had any challengers today. Let's head back to the gym before it gets too late." The two got up to leave when Nurse Joy came back into the cafeteria.

"Is there an Ash Ketchum in here, are any of you him?" Nurse Joy looked around, and Ash raised his hand. She called him over and said "You have a phone call from Vermilion City. It's on the third phone in the main lobby." Ash wondered who it was and went into the lobby.

"You guys go ahead; I'll be over in a little bit." Misty and Brock nodded and left, heading towards the gym. "Hello?" Ash picked up the phone, and sat down at the desk.

"Hi Ash, you remember your old pal right?" An Officer Jenny appeared on the screen, one he hadn't seen in a long time. She seemed to be struggling with something, and the cause of her trouble soon popped up in the screen.

"What's up, Ash?!" Squirtle said as he hopped in front of the camera. Officer Jenny tried to hold him back, but to no avail.

"It's Squirtle!" Ash and Pikachu said at the same time.

"Get… down… Squirtle!" Finally fighting off the excited pokemon, Jenny took the screen back. "Ash, if it's not too much to ask, could Squirtle come back with you?"

"I would love to have him back, but why the sudden change? What happened to the Squirtle Squad?" Ash asked.

"Well earlier this month I petitioned the city for public funding for an extension on the fire department. Vermilion has grown a lot Ash, and the Squirtle Squad just couldn't handle all the fires. And then, about a week ago Squirtle started going nuts, and got much stronger. He made it clear that he wanted to go back to you, but I made him hold on until funding got passed, which happened this morning. So if it's no trouble to you I think he wants to get back on your team. He is still your pokemon, and I don't know that I can hold him back anymore!" As if illustrating her point, a water gun nailed the officer in the face and Squirtle jumped back in the camera.

"Can I Ash, come on, please! You're the Chosen One now, there's no way I'm missing out on that!" Ash and Pikachu laughed at their friend's expense.

"Sure he can! Just send his pokeball here, and I'll pick him up." Jenny quickly agreed, and after some goodbyes Ash went over to the pokeball transporter and picked up his old/new pokemon. He let out the water type, who knocked his trainer on the ground.

"Almost a whole week, bro, not cool! You get to be the Chosen One, and I get some cool power boost and you don't get me for like five days! Now spill it, what happened?" Ash slowly recovered from the pokemon's onslaught and after looking around he noticed a bunch of other trainers around, looking at the kid with a Squirtle yelling at him.

"Not here… Pikachu you explain." So he did. Ash started the short walk to the gym, and after a long chorus of questions and comments, Ash, Pikachu and an overwhelmed Squirtle reached the gym.

"Hey buddy, I'm gonna put you back in your ball, ok?" The water type looked ticked at having to go back in so soon, and Ash quickly explained. "I've got a battle with Brock's brother in a second, and nobody knows you're back. You'll be my secret weapon." Squirtle liked the sound of that, but told Ash something before he was recalled.

"Yo, Ash, you don't even know my new move! A while back, some other Squirtle taught me how to make a ball of water! Its called… water… water… pulse! And it's pretty much amazing. I shoot out this ball of water, and a huge wave splashes out wherever I aim it!"

"You know water pulse? That will be helpful. Alright, let's do this." Ash recalled Squirtle and walked into the gym to see Brock and Misty being assaulted by Brock's siblings, with Forrest off to the side watching. Ash laughed and accidentally got the attention of the hoard.

"It's Ash!" one yelled.

"How many pokemon do you have?!"

"What's your favorite?!"

"Have you ever seen a legendary pokemon?! Brock says you have, but I don't believe him."

"Are you here to fight Forrest?! Cause you're gonna lose!" Ash was overwhelmed, and Pikachu could only hide behind his paws at the bombardment of noise coming from the kids. Brock chuckled and Misty sighed, thankful for temporary safety. Finally Brock and Forrest broke them up, and Ash thanked them.

"So Brock says you wanna have a practice battle, huh? I heard you got to the semifinals in the Sinnoh League, so I can't wait!" Ash was also pumped for the battle, and the two quickly took sides of the field. "It's getting pretty late, so how about just a one on one? I know it's not much, but I don't have time for a long battle." The Pallet native agreed and the two pulled out their pokeballs. "Luckily, Brock didn't fight this one earlier! Go, Rhyperior, let's show them some power!" Forrest threw out his most powerful pokemon, who faced his opponent. He nearly turned on his trainer for going against the Chosen One, but knew there had to be a good reason. He quickly realized that this was a gym battle, and took a defensive stance. Chosen One or not, Rhyperior made a name for himself and would not be brought down easily. Ash saw the pokemon get prepared, and expanded his own pokeball, eager for a challenge.

"Go, Squirtle!" The water pokemon popped out with his classic sunglasses on and took them off dramatically. He turned and faced a towering Rhyperior, ready to show them all why you don't screw with the Squirtle Squad.

"Ash, when did you get Squirtle back? You didn't have him a couple days ago." Brock questioned, as he tried to figure out when the two were reunited.

"I'll tell you later, but right now I have a battle to win." Rhyperior smirked at the Chosen One's confidence, but both he and Forrest knew that Ash was a real threat. "Since this isn't an official gym battle, why don't you have the first move Forrest?"

"Alright, but you'll regret it! Rhyperior, earthquake!" The gigantic rock type jumped in the air, and stomped on the ground, shaking the whole gym. Squirtle was knocked off his feet, unable to stabilize himself on the shaking ground. "Now, Rhyperior use rock blast while Squirtle is on his back!" Rhyperior raised his arms, and his claws glowed white. He began blasting rocks at Squirtle who rolled back on his feet and did his best to dodge.

"Squirtle, keep dodging!" Ash yelled. He was waiting for the right opportunity to get on the offensive, and soon found a gap. "Now, rapid fire water gun!" The water type began pelting heavy streams of water out of its mouth and the behemoth before him was caught unaware, being used to Kevin's weak blastoise. Squirtle tore Rhyperior up, and danced around the mighty pokemon as it tried to block the water type's counterattack.

"No!" Forrest shouted, watching the impressive display. _'Ash and Squirtle must go way back! I have to find a way to work around its agility and catch it by surprise… that's it!"_ "Rhyperior, dig!" The pokemon gladly obliged its trainer, and with a heavy grunt, it took off into the earth. "Now make a bunch of holes!" _'This way, Rhyperior should be able to come up from any direction and get a good hit in!'_ "Megahorn!" The rock/ground type came out of one of the many holes and nailed Squirtle powerfully from behind, soon diving back into his new hiding place. Ash had watched the whole ordeal, amazed that such a big pokemon had so much mobility. However this is Ash Ketchum, and as always he found a way out.

"Squirtle, get to the middle hole!" Squirtle got back up and nimbly made his way across the scarred battlefield, watching for the titanic pokemon to come out again. One he was there, he paused to see what Ash had in mind. "Now, water pulse into the hole, give it everything you have!" The water type obeyed and powered up a ball of water. Rhyperior came out again, but Squirtle jumped over him, and fired the ball into the hole at max power. Rhyperior was already back in the hole as the ball entered the tunnel system.

Everyone present watched the attack disappear and waited. Soon a rushing sound, like a faucet being turned on, was heard and a geyser shot out of the ground. A second later a roar was heard, clearly the dual type underground, and more fountains shot up around the field. Everything was silent as the water quietly spread around the field after the previous uproar. The tension was palpable, and soon a mound formed in front of Forrest, who watched bewildered as Rhyperior staggered out of the ground and collapsed at his feet.

All of his siblings moaned and cried as the pokemon fainted, while Misty cheered and Brock clapped politely. Ash ran up and hugged Squirtle, congratulating him on his win.

"That was my first battle in years, I still got it man! And I knew you would come up with something stupid, just like you always do!" Ash and Pikachu laughed and turned to see their opponent running up after recalling his own pokemon.

"Wow Ash, that was amazing! Normally me and Rhyperior just overpower everything, but Squirtle was so fast! And he took an earthquake and a megahorn, not even most fully evolved pokemon can do that." Ash had recalled Squirtle and turned to face Forrest.

"Thanks, me and him go way back to the start of my journey. Lately he's been a firefighter in Vermillion City, so it looks like he's gotten a lot better. You two were awesome too though, I'm sure if I picked anyone else you would have won." Ash replied, noticing his friends making his way down to where he was.

"That was great Ash! But now you have to tell us where you got Squirtle at; Brock said you didn't have him when you came back from Sinnoh." Misty said as she walked up to the boy.

"I didn't. Remember that phone call I had before I came here? That was Officer Jenny, wanting to give me back Squirtle because they didn't need him anymore. They have a bigger fire fighting team now, and the rest of the Squirtle Squad is part of that. So I told her it was fine, and picked him up right before I came to the gym." Brock and Misty nodded at the coincidence, happy to have their old friend back.

"So now what? Do you have room for us to stay here for the night, or should we go back to the pokemon center?" Misty asked the former gym leader.

"…No, sorry. We barely have enough room for ourselves. Why don't you two go stay at the pokemon center tonight, and come back here in the morning?"

"Wait, why would we come back here?" Ash asked, "I thought we were leaving in the morning."

"What, without me?" Brock replied, earning a grin from his friends. "What fun would that be? If I wanna be a top breeder, I should hang out with a future pokemon master. That's what we set out to do five years ago, right? Besides, you're hopeless without me! You need someone to cook, and give you directions; I mean, I found you because you ran into the side of a building."

"Haha, I guess you're right Brock. So we'll meet you here in the morning?"

"Yep! I'll have breakfast made, so don't eat before you come." With that, the two turned to leave. Forrest asked Ash to take Rhyperior to the pokemon center, and bring him back in the morning. Ash and Misty left, making small talk on the way back, happy to finally have their gang back together again.

* * *

"AAAAAGH!" Ash fell out of the bed, more than a little charred, to the feet of a small rodent that was rubbing the back of his head. Pikachu looked down at his trainer, knowing this wasn't looking good for him. "What was that for?!"

"It was just a wakeup call." The electric type said, trying to be nonchalant.

"That was way more powerful than normal, and you know it! Did you forget you were much stronger than you used to be?" Pikachu nodded, ashamed that he zapped Ash that hard, and the trainer merely shook his head as he stood up. Ash stretched and got ready for the day as his starter jumped back on the bed. He noticed Misty was gone and questioned his pokemon about it as he went to brush his teeth.

"Misty left right before I woke you up." Ash snorted at that, still feeling the tingle of electricity. "In fact she was the one who woke me up." Pikachu finished his explanation then he paused trying to think of something from yesterday. "Hey Ash, I think Riolu and Mew wanted to ask you something. Ash poked his head out of the bathroom, a curious look on his face. He went back in, rinsed his mouth out and grabbed two pokeballs from his bag. He let out the fighting and psychic types, who took notice of their surroundings.

_"Pikachu told you we wanted to talk?"_ Mew asked, hovering over to her trainer. Ash was still amazed that such a hyper pokemon could be so perceptive.

"Yeah he did, what's up you two?" Ash saw them look between each other, and Riolu was silently elected to go first.

"Well we have two different questions, so I'll ask first. I know I'm new to the team and all, and I have hardly done any training, but since we're connected do you think we could do some aura training too?" Ash raised his eyebrows at the question, not expecting it. "I remember you rescued me because you could find me with aura. And we were told our auras were a match, so we could train together. It's pretty unusual for humans to have aura powers anymore, and it would be awesome if you could use them!"

"Well I was asked a while back if I wanted to learn, but I want to be a trainer…" Ash trailed off thinking back.

"You can be! You're already the Chosen One, right? This will be just more really cool powers and stuff. With a little training, you could do all kinds of awesome things! And you could help me get lots better. Come on, please Ash?" The pokemon began to beg Ash, who had to admit it sounded like a pretty sweet deal. Riolu looked to the others for some support.

_"Do it Ash! I've only seen a couple aura guardians; it would be awesome to have one as my trainer! Plus you would be so cool! Not that you're not, but you would be even cooler!" _Mew buzzed excitedly in the air, making Ash smile at the eager pokemon.

"Dude, just think of how much you could rub this in Gary's or Paul's faces! You would be so cool, and they would be so jealous. Then their pokemon would be like 'Pikachu has an aura guardian and the Chosen One as his trainer?!' and I would be like 'hell yeah, you shouldn't have messed with me' then I would zap 'em all and-" Pikachu was interrupted, however, in the middle of punching an imaginary Electivire.

"Alright, Alright I'll do it. But I'm a trainer first, and that means that I don't know how much time I'll have to work with you one-on-one, ok?" Ash looked at the small fighting type, who happily agreed. All three pokemon cheered, and Ash turned to the other of the two. "What's your question, Mew?"

_"Well I already asked it yesterday, but we were in a hurry so I didn't get an answer. Can I travel outside of my pokeball if I transform? Nobody could tell the difference!"_ To illustrate her point, she turned into an eevee, and hopped on Ash's shoulder. "See, I'm just a normal eevee, nothing legendary about me!" It was weird to hear her talk, because her voice changed and it was like having a new pokemon on his shoulder. She gave him the most pitiful eyes she could but Ash wasn't fazed enough to change his opinion.

"I can't, Mew, not until Brock knows. If he sees you, he'll start asking questions, and then he'll think I'm hiding secrets from him." Ash explained.

"But you are hiding secrets from him!" Mew retorted.

"Only for right now! I couldn't tell him earlier, because there were a bunch of people and we were in the middle of a Pokemon Center. Now that he's traveling with us I figured I would tell him once we get out of Pewter City. That way it won't be as crowded and I can call you and Mewtwo out to show him." Mew had to admit it would be easier to prove with herself and Mewtwo there to help, just like it had been with Misty. She consented, as long as Ash promised to tell Brock (he did), and Ash recalled her and Riolu. Pikachu hopped back on Ash's shoulder, and they got ready to leave.

The two set out of the room, making sure they had everything. Ash was starving, and couldn't wait to get to the gym and get some breakfast. He talked to Nurse Joy on the way out, and took Rhyperior. Soon he was on the Pewter City streets, and due to how early it was, few others were out. On the way there, he thought of something from yesterday, and turned to Pikachu.

"Hey, has Squirtle always been like this?" Ash asked.

"Like what?" Pikachu replied.

"Well he called me bro, and all the other pokemon are so formal with me." Pikachu started laughing and Ash was confused.

"Well, he used to be a lot worse! When he joined the team, he would try to act cool because he ran with the Squirtle Squad, a bunch of 'criminals'. But you know as well as I do that they never did anything that bad, but Squirtle tried be tough about it. That's why he wears the sunglasses." Ash nodded. He knew the sunglasses were from the Squirtle Squad, but didn't know Squirtle thought himself that much of an outlaw. "He's gotten a lot better though," Pikachu said, regaining Ash's attention, "he still talks like that but he's way more mature from when you got him. I think being a firefighter helped."

"Did you ever ask why he joined the Squirtle Squad?" Ash wanted to know why he was there in the first place.

"I did in the Orange Islands, but he just said 'I didn't choose the thug life' whatever that means. I let it drop though, 'cause he didn't wanna talk about it." Pikachu ended the conversation as they walked up to the gym's doors. Ash opened them to a flood of sound and fury, and once he adjusted to it, he noticed this was what Brock called breakfast. Somewhere he heard a girl call his name, and he fought through a sea of kids and food, and found Misty in a chair near the end of the table.

"About time you showed up!" Misty said as Ash took a seat on the other side of the table from her. It was hard to hear over the ruckus, and Ash noticed almost all of the food was gone.

"Where's Brock?!" Ash yelled back, trying to pierce the noise.

"He went upstairs to get ready, and then we'll head out! These kids-" She pointed to the beasts known as children, "have devoured everything! You had better get something fast!" She looked back at Ash, and realized he was already on his second plate. She sighed, realizing that the perpetually starved trainer wasn't one to worry about when it came to getting food. She waited out the storm, which now included Ash and Pikachu, and everything came to a halt when Brock walked back in with a large pack on his back.

"Did you guys enjoy it?" Brock asked, smiling at his siblings.

"Yeah, thanks Brock!" The kids, Ash and Pikachu yelled back.

"It was great, I've missed your cooking!" Misty threw in. Brock cleaned up the mess, and gathered his old traveling partners. He then went about selecting his pokemon. He figured he would need his best, and picked Steelix, Geodude, Crobat, Sudowoodo, Marshtomp, and Forretress. Ash gave Forrest his Rhyperior back, and after a thanks from Forrest, the three trainers and a pokemon made their way to the door. Everyone said their goodbyes to Brock, something they were used to by now, and the three left the gym to start a new journey together.

"It feels weird leaving Pewter City again, just our little group!" Misty said, feeling the nostalgia.

"Yeah, shouldn't you be stalking me, Pikachu and Brock like thirty feet behind us?" Ash asked and he, Brock and Pikachu started laughing at their friend's expense. Misty pouted.

"If Pikachu hadn't destroyed my expensive bike, I wouldn't have followed you!" Misty fired back. The two got ready to go at it, but Brock intervened.

"Not to interrupt this old game, but where are we going guys?" Brock asked. Everyone looked around, and noticed they had walked away from the gym in no general direction. They stopped and looked at Brock.

"Oh, uh, I guess I forgot to tell you. The next step is the Indigo Plateau, then to to do some real training." Ash got pumped at the thought of getting his team in top shape, but Brock shot that down.

"So are we coming with you, just so you can do some training?" Ash stopped, he hadn't thought about that.

"Well, no, not the whole time. I'm sure something stupid will happen, it always does. Let's just get to the Indigo Plateau and see where that takes us." Brock and Misty agreed. It was better than doing nothing, and with Brock being a breeder again, and Misty having a couple months before league season started and gyms reopened, both had a whole lot of nothing to do. Of course both were happy to follow Ash anyway, but would rather have something to do.

"Well the fastest way would be to fly over the woods and cliffs to the plateau, but since we don't have a way to do that, or to teleport, we need to go through Victory Road. That means we need to go down to Viridian City first." Ash didn't answer that because he didn't have enough flying pokemon large enough to carry them, and there was no way he was bringing out Mew or Mewtwo in the middle of the street.

"Well, let's get going then, no point in just standing around!" Ash marched off like always, with his starter on his shoulder, and his two first traveling companions struggling to keep up. They were on a new phase of their adventure, and Ash was right: when they got to the Indigo Plateau, something stupid was bound to happen. Well, for Ash anyways.

* * *

**Alright! The Indigo Plateau should be pretty interesting. More pokemans, training, jokes, battles, etc.**

**I gotta say even though it will be a while, I can't wait to write the tournament. Ash hasn't been seriously challenged yet, but he will be. He's not just gonna sweep every match in this story. Right now this is just the transition from Ash to the Ash you always read about beating champions in tournaments. **

**Also I've been introducing (main) characters in a pattern. If you've been paying attention to the story as they have appeared you can probably guess who's next, after them, and so on.**

**Well that's all from me! Read it, love it, review it. Later!**


	7. Eating

**Well, after a long delay (again), here is Chapter 7. Sorry it took so long, literally every class had midterms and tests and whatnot. **

**It was awful.**

**Ash, Brock, and Misty are now in the Viridian Forest. What will happen? Who knows? Does sombody... DIE?! Nope.**

**Also don't be discouraged by the chapter length (7100 words), I hope you read it all. It took me a while to type this F...Sucker up so, I look forward to what you have to say about it.**

**Well, its been long enough so I won't hold you back anymore. Enjoy!**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon.**

With Brock leading the pack, the gang was making fantastic time back through the Viridian Forest. Whereas Ash knew where he was going and certainly got him and Misty through at a good pace, Brock was a city seeking missile trekking through the wilderness. Ash was happy that they were making so much progress, but as always hunger struck the Pallet native, and struck him hard. After a couple hours of travel, he decided it would be a good time to stop for lunch, and maybe get some training in.

"Hey Brock, can we stop for lunch soon? I'm starving, and I only had a little snack for breakfast." Ash groaned, clutching his empty stomach, wishing he had eaten more at breakfast. Pikachu, ever in-tune with his trainer, felt the pain of famine strike him as well and groaned.

"Ash, you had four plates this morning! How can you- never mind. I guess I should be used to this by now, huh?" Misty came to terms with Ash's insatiable hunger, and admitted to herself that she was a little hungry as well.

"Well, I guess we could but I was hoping to get a free lunch at the Pokemon Center. We would save money and we could see Nurse Joy!" Brock went into his own personal world, reminded again of the captivating beauty kind enough to grace the mortal world with her presence.

"Brock, focus!" He was snapped out of his thoughts by Misty, and remembered why they couldn't see the lovely nurse.

"Well, first we have to find a clearing to eat in." Ash and Misty nodded and Ash sent out Pidgeot to help the group search. Pidgeot looked around for a bit, and noticed they were 'still' in the Viridian Forest.

"When did you get a pidgeot, Ash?" Brock asked. He left him alone for a week and he had Squirtle back, and now a pidgeot.

"This is actually my pidgeot from our first time going through Kanto, remember?" Brock was shocked to see the old bird back with Ash, but was also wondering why Ash decided to get the pokemon back now of all times; it had been four years after all.

"I remember, but why did you go get her now? I mean, I know you're training for the tournament, but you didn't get her when you were taking on the Battle Frontier."

"Well this tournament is bigger than the Battle Frontier. And there's something else I gotta tell you but it's kind of a long story. Let's eat lunch then I'll tell you." Brock nodded and Ash sent Pidgeot to look for a clearing to eat in. She came back in a couple seconds, and pointed to the trees to the group's right.

"Ash, there's a clearing through these trees." Ash nodded, and called the flying type back. They walked through the woods a bit and came upon a small break in the trees, just as Pidgeot had said.

"Alright, it's the first meal of a new journey, so I'm going to make my famous soup!" Ash and Misty started drooling at the thought one of their friend's best dishes. "Ash, you go get firewood, and Misty you and your pokemon fill up the pot. I'll set up everything else." The two nodded, and took off to do their assigned tasks while Brock [ERROR]. Once he had the table, chairs and ingredients out and ready, he noticed Misty was done filling up the pot, and now he just needed the firewood. A second later, Ash came stumbling out of the woods with a whole bunch of it in his arms. Brock took the logs from Ash, and skillfully set them up. He put the pot over the fire, and got cookin'.

"Hey Brock, I'm gonna go for a walk while you get the soup ready, ok? Oh, and you might want to make a bunch of pokemon food." Ash said.

"Why?"

"Because I have Snorlax with me." It was true that Snorlax was with him, but he also had a couple more mouths to feed.

"No problem! I still know the recipe for May's Pink Surprise pokeblocks. That should fill him right up." As he was saying this, Brock pulled out a berry blender from his pack, and then went back to chopping up ingredients for pokemon food. Ash learned long ago not to question how Brock fit everything in his backpack, so he merely shook his head and headed off into the woods.

"I'm gonna go with Ash, I'll be back in a second." Misty took off without waiting for confirmation from the breeder, who laughed at the gym leader once she was gone.

"She's so obvious." Brock smirked at his friends' relationship but had to admit that since they got back together it had seemed that they were hiding something from him. _'I wonder what it is. Every pokemon we pass stares at Ash, or something weird like that.'_ He thought back to the pokemon center and how all of the pokemon reacted to Ash. Then, when they were leaving Pewter City, a trainer's machoke _bowed_ to Ash, and he just took it in stride. The machoke's trainer was dumbfounded, of course, but the Pallet native acted like he expected it._ 'He acts like nothing is wrong though, so I don't think he's realized it. Arceus knows how thick he can be. But he also seems like he knows what all of them are talking about. He always could understand Pikachu, but it seems deeper now. Then when Pidgeot looked for this clearing, he understood what it was saying and led us here. Even Misty been kinda weird, but I think that's for a different reason.'_ He chuckled quietly, and paused his internal ramble to check his soup.

"Hmmm, needs some more mago berry." He put the spoon back in the simmering soup and reached down to grab a couple of said berries out of his bag. They were missing, and he remembered that he left them out on the table with some other ingredients. Before he could turn around he heard a loud 'BANG' from behind him. Brock cursed, jumped about five feet in the air, and whirled around coming face to face with something he thought he'd never see again. "AH!"

_"Hi Brock!"_ Mew said, munching on one of his custap berries.

* * *

Ash and Pikachu were heading off to look for a small clearing they had found when looking for firewood. Ash needed to tell Mew and Mewtwo about Brock, and why he was traveling with them; but more importantly, he would need their help in convincing Brock that he is the Chosen One, and explaining what all that entails. He never was good at explanations, but Mew was proof enough, and Mewtwo was a linguistic savant. Soon they were both broken from their thoughts when Misty caught up with them.

"Ash, when are you going to tell Brock about being the Chosen One? He has to know at some point, I mean you can't just leave him in the dark." Misty said.

"I know, I was actually about to tell him during lunch," The girl nodded, "I just had to get Mew and Mewtwo to back me up."

"Well why'd you come out here?"

"I figured I had a little bit while Brock was making lunch, so I could get some one-on-one training done with one of my pokemon. I mean, training is the reason for this trip anyway." As he said that they came upon the small break in the woods where a large stream ran through, and various types of flora grew along its banks. "Ok, first things first though. Come on out guys!" He threw two pokeballs in the air and let out Mew and Mewtwo, who took in their surroundings.

_"Ash, why have you called us? Are we about to train?" _Mewtwo asked.

_"No! Let's play tag!"_ Mew said. She flew over and tapped Pikachu in the head with a _"you're it!"_ and flew off. He was about to give chase when Ash stopped him.

"Actually, no training now, at least not for you two, I need your help for something." Mew and Mewtwo looked interested and waited for him to finish. "Like I told Mew, we're traveling with Brock now so I have to explain my powers to him. I figured it would be easier with you guys like it was with Misty."

"Yeah, having two legendary pokemon is pretty convincing." Misty said.

"Right. So we're about to eat lunch and when we do I'll tell him. Until then I wanted to get some training in for a little bit with someone I haven't worked with in a while." Both legends nodded, and knew that they weren't going to be picked so they relaxed. Ash turned to his faithful starter to talk things over. "Who do you think I should go with? You're practically team captain after all." Pikachu's reply was instant.

"Bayleef." The mouse said.

"Why her?"

"She needs some training. She's pretty powerful, and most of your other powerful pokemon have gotten some battling time since we started this journey. She doesn't need that much training, Riolu and Gible need a lot, but we only have a few minutes so this would be good for seeing what she needs to work on." Ash stared wide-eyed at his pokemon.

"If you were human, you would make a good trainer, you know that?"

"Duh. I'm your second in command I have to know how to handle the troops." Ash laughed at the electric type. "Also, on a second thought can you let Squirtle out too? We need to catch up." Ash agreed. If he was training Bayleef, there was no reason those two couldn't hang out for a while. He took Squirtle's pokeball off of his belt and let the Kanto starter out.

"What's up, Ash?" Squirtle asked as he looked around.

"He's training Bayleef, so I wanted to ask what you've been up to since you left the team. How was being a firefighter?" Pikachu asked.

"Bro, it was awesome." Squirtle and Pikachu started swapping stories, but Ash tuned them out to get training. He fished Bayleef's pokeball out of his backpack, and found a good spot to try out different things.

"While you're doing that, I'm going to be working with Vaporeon. She still needs some speed training before she can be a top battler." Misty said. The boy nodded, and watched her throw the eeveelution's pokeball as he expanded Bayleef's ball.

"Alright Bayleef, co-" But he was interrupted in mid throw by Vaporeon's greeting tackle. Once again he looked up at the water type and silently cursed himself for not seeing that coming. Bayleef's ball landed and she popped out in a bright light. The grass type whirled around to body slam her trainer, but was met with the horrifying sight of Vaporeon tackling Ash to the ground.

Aw _hell_ no. There would be only one mid-sized quadruped breaking Ash's bones for attention and it would be _her_, dammit. She had met the water type a couple days ago (briefly) and had no problem with her, but Vaporeon isn't even one of Ash's pokemon! Bayleef hardly gets to see Ash, and now she has to compete with pokemon that aren't even her teammates? She ran over to the two, earning their attention.

"Hey! Tackling Ash is _my_ thing, so why don't you go back to Misty?" She didn't want to be too mean, but she had to put her foot down. Suddenly Vaporeon started sniffling, causing Bayleef to panic. She didn't want to hurt an innocent child, even over Ash.

"Oh no, a chosen pokemon mad at me? I'm… I'm so sorry. I never meant to…" Vaporeon trailed off and got stepped down from the trainer. She started crying, and Ash was quick to react.

"No, Vaporeon, don't cry! I can be your friend too!" Ash sat up, and hugged the crying water type. "Bayleef, say you're sorry!" he said as he pet the sobbing eeveelution. Vaporeon looked from under Ash's arm with a triumphant grin smeared across her face. Bayleef couldn't believe what she was seeing!

_'That little bitch.'_ She thought. Bayleef let out a battle cry, and tackled Vaporeon out from under her trainer's arm. Ash was a little surprised to say the least. The two rolled around for a second, before both got back to their feet.

"Aren't you a bit young for the Chosen One?" Bayleef said, glaring down her opponent.

"Aren't you a bit _ugly_ for him?" The mer-fox countered. It wasn't the best comeback, but both were on the verge of warfare, and that's all it took. Bayleef dove back at Vaporeon, and the two were back to rolling around on the ground. The grass type was certainly the stronger and better trained, but right now she and Vaporeon were just fighting on instinct. Meanwhile Ash was trying to figure out what just happened.

"What just happened?" Ash asked, trying to figure it out.

_"This is a duel for favoritism, Ash."_ Mewtwo said._ "Pokemon often live in pack, or group, oriented societies, and Bayleef and Vaporeon are two such species. In pack societies there is a leader, or an alpha. All male pokemon fight to be the alpha, and females fight for the attention of the alpha. Certainly there are exceptions; many bug types have female alphas, or 'queens' but many species live in packs. Because of your status, you are arguably the alpha of all pokemon that would follow a male alpha, weird as that may seem. Regardless, Bayleef and Vaporeon are dueling to see which is more worthy of your attention. I believe humans call such a duel between females a-"_

"Catfight!" Both Pikachu and Squirtle yelled. The two had wandered off somewhere but once they heard what was going on, appeared out of thin air. Ash looked over to see the two watching the fight as intensely as any league battle, and Misty looking on a bit ticked that they were fighting over Ash. Not that she liked him or anything, and besides they _were_ just pokemon. Interesting as it was, Ash had to put a stop to it so he could at least get a little training in with the couple minutes he had left. He took a step towards the two when he was knocked off his feet by a thundershock and a water gun. Surprised, he looked up to see two of his oldest pokemon running over to him.

"Ash, you are _not_ going to ruin this!" Squirtle said.

Pikachu nodded his agreement, knowing full well Ash would have no clue why, and he wasn't willing to explain. Sure enough, Ash was confused as to how that would be a good thing, or why his two pokemon cared so much about the two fighting females. What he wasn't confused about was that he wasn't getting any training done!

"Can we at least make this a trainer battle between me and Misty?" Ash asked.

"Yes!" Misty replied, maybe a bit too fast. "Er, I mean, it would be a shame to let them keep fighting, we should make it a battle to help with your training!" _'I love Pikachu to death, but if Ash gives that kind of attention to any more pokemon, that's all he'll ever do! And why is my pokemon fighting over him?'_ she thought, looking at Vaporeon and Bayleef. The pokemon in question kept rolling on the ground, scratching growling and biting, oblivious to all around them. Finally Ash focused on the two in his mind, and calmed them down. The rolling ball of death the two had created came to a stop, and the two participants fell to the ground.

"Wha…what's going on…?" Vaporeon said, staggering as she tried to defy the sea of tranquility her mind was in. She failed, and fell back to the ground. "Ok Misty, nighty night. 'Night, devil plant." Vaporeon looked at Bayleef one last time before collapsing, fast asleep.

"Blue…bitch…" Bayleef said, staggering herself. Everything was just so… comfortable. She yawned, and then passed out on the spot, lying in the grass next to her new enemy. A groan came from Pikachu and Squirtle, and everyone looked to where Ash was standing. He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

"I guess I probably need more practice, huh?" He said. The others facepalmed; Mewtwo merely shook his head at his trainer's ineptitude.

"You put them to sleep, Ash! How are you supposed to do any training now?" Misty asked, looking at her sleeping pokemon. Instead of addressing Misty's rhetorical question, a thought that had been forming subconsciously for a while surfaced.

"Hey, Mewtwo?" Ash called, only ticking Misty off a little more at being ignored.

_"Yes, Ash?"_ The clone answered.

"If that was supposed to be between female pokemon, how come Mew wasn't in there? Not that I could see her fighting."

_"Mew do not live in congregations, their populations are simply too small. As such, they don't follow an alpha mew. Also, Mews personality is contradictory to the nature of such battles, leading me to doubt she would fight simply for your attention. But probably the best explanation is that Mew hasn't been here in quite some time."_ Mewtwo said, looking around to see if he could spot his 'sister'.

"Huh?" Ash and the others looked around, and sure enough, no Mew. "Where is she?" he asked Mewtwo.

_"I do not know, Ash. I only know that she left soon after you decided to train Bayleef. Mew is used to being wild and free, and is prone to going off on her own journeys. I try not to delve too deeply into her actions or activities as they tend to make life more… taxing for those not prepared to handle them."_ Mewtwo turned from Ash to the stream before them, thinking of just how excited the small pink cat could be. Mewtwo generally avoided a excited Mew. Ash sighed, but remembered that he had a link with all of his pokemon that he could use to track her down. He reached out across the link with his mind and felt all of their emotions, from Bayleef's exhaustion, to Mewtwo's indifference. Then, a short ways away, his mind ran into a mental field of happiness and colors which could only belong to Mew. He could feel where Mew was in his mind, and quickly found out…

"Oh, no." Ash sighed. "She's back at camp. That means she probably already ran into Brock."

"Well, I guess we should get back and tell him why there is a legendary pokemon flying around our camp, I'm sure she scared the crap out of him." Misty said, knowing just how big a surprise the legendary cat could be. She and Ash recalled all the pokemon, the latter disappointed that he didn't get a single thing done since they came out here, and went back to camp.

* * *

"Who do you think I should go with? You're practically team captain after all." Ash asked Pikachu. Mew sat back watching the two, knowing she wouldn't be picked, and tried to find something to do to entertain herself.

_'This is soooo boring.'_ Mew said, desperate for a way to pass the time. Normally she would have a pile of toys in the Tree of Beginning so she was never bored, and if she was bored, she just stole more toys from the Cameron Palace. Now, with Ash training, she had nothing to do. _"Mewtwo, play a game with me!"_ she said, hovering up to her adopted brother.

_"As interesting as that always is, I think I will pass this time Mew. I am interested to see Ash train one of his older pokemon, and want to be here in case he needs me for anything." _The clone said, watching the boy in question find Bayleef's pokeball. Mew sighed.

_"Ok."_ She was about to go up to Pikachu and Squirtle, but saw them talking. She knew from what Pikachu said that this was the first chance the two had had to really catch up, so she didn't want to interrupt. _'Well looks like I'm back to nothing.'_ She thought, defeated. Finally with nothing better to do she headed into the woods. _'It's been a while since I've been to the Viridian Forest, didn't there used to a custap berry tree around here? I love those they're so sweet, but I can never find them!' _ She thought about the first time she had tried to bite one, and almost broke a tooth. _'That hurt so bad! That's why mama said to soften 'em first though.' _

She paused her inner monologue, and sniffed the air. She caught a whiff of something, and lazily hovered in that direction, slowly doing her signature acrobatics. The scent grew stronger the closer she got and the curiosity got the best of her. _'Oh my Mew,'_ she giggled at the thought that some humans say that, _'what is that smell? It smells so good!'_ The psychic type got excited and quickened her pace, flying past trees at a steady rate now. She neared the clearing where the camp was at, and sensed a human mind ahead. The legend slowed down, wary of any humans, knowing Ash would be disappointed if she drew attention to herself. But good Arceus did that smell good. She turned invisible and flew out into to the clearing.

_'Oh, it's just Brock. I guess this is our camp?'_ She said, seeing the boy for the first time in over a year. She was happy that it wasn't team rocket or someone like that and let herself become visible. She flew over to the small camp where Brock was working on his soup. It smelled delicious, and Mew was about to ask him if she could have some of it when she noticed something else sitting on the table. _'Are those custap berries? How did Brock find a custap berry tree in Kanto? Oh well, I'm sure he won't mind if I take one.' _She flew down and picked one up.

The psychic type looked around, trying to find something to soften the berry with so she could get to the soft deliciousness inside. _'Oh duh, why don't I use the table?'_ She stopped when she heard the breeder mutter something about mago berries but when he didn't try to take her berry from her she continued. She picked it up with her psychic powers, and lifted it a couple feet off the table. Then she slammed back down hard, making a loud 'BANG'. She saw Brock jump, and whip around to look at her. She picked up her prize, and faced Brock who jumped back again, startled to see the legendary pokemon. _"Hi Brock!"_ She said, digging out a little piece of flesh from the fruit and taking a bite.

"M…Mew?" He asked, not believing his eyes. What was a legendary pokemon doing out here?

_"The one and only! Actually there are more but I'm the one you keep running into."_ She said, and giggled at the coincidence that she _was_ the only Mew they ever saw. Brock stared at her for a moment before recovering enough to ask his next question.

"Why are you here?" He asked, and then realized he might sound rude. "I mean, it's great to see you, but why did you come to our little camp?"

_"I was out in the woods when something smelled really good, so I came to see what it was. I was going to ask you for some of that stuff"_ she said, pointing to the soup, _"but then I saw these custap berries, so I wanted one of these instead. You won't mind if I just take one, right?" _She said, taking another bite. Brock took a second to piece everything together, and then realize Mew asked him a question.

"Oh, no it's fine Mew. But why were you out in the Viridian Forest to begin with?" Brock asked. '_The Tree of Beginning is up north so why is Mew here of all places?'_

_"Ash was training Bayleef instead of me and Mewtwo, so I decided to wander around looking for a custap berry." _She held her prize up victoriously. _"And I found one!"_ She set it back down and continued eating.

"Wait, what does Ash… did you say Mewtwo? Hold on Mew, what's going on?" The breeder was understandably confused, and once Mew thought about what she said her eyes widened.

_"Um, I didn't say anything!"_ Mew picked up her berry and was about to teleport back to her trainer, when she remembered something. A deal she made with Ash; she could stay out of her pokeball once Brock found out about Ash being the Chosen One. She got excited, and an extremely detailed, and thought out plan formed in her head which would take cunning and skill to execute._ "Brock, Ash is the Chosen One!" _She practically screamed, and the boy in front of her was no less confused. Mission accomplished.

"Wait… what?" the breeder scratched his head, thoroughly confused as to what the pokemon was going on about. Mew shook her head, remembering that humans didn't grow up with the same myths and legends that pokemon did.

_"Ash is the Chosen One."_ She started. As Brock was about to ask what that means, she continued at a rapid fire pace._ "He's basically the protector of peace in the world and pokemon everywhere love him and listen to him, he has really cool powers which include understanding pokemon, messing with people's brains, being a really good trainer, and his whole team is really strong now; all legendaries trust him because he saved the world a bunch of times, which is why me and Mewtwo follow him, and I think others are coming too (but really I got here first so I'm the best); Arceus gave him his blessing so he would keep everyone safe, but he only did it because he trusts Ash, and now Ash has a bunch of responsibilities, but nothing has come up yet so we're going to fight in a tournament." _Mew accentuated her speedy recap with powerful hand gestures and meaningful poses, but all Brock heard and saw was a flood of her mental voice, and a blur of pink. Suddenly she stopped talking and faced him. _"Which means now I can stay out of my pokeball, yay! Understand now?"_

"Uh, no actually I'm more confused than when you started. Did you say something about powers, and Arceus? Slow down Mew, I can't process all this that fast." Mew sighed internally, regretting not waiting on Ash and Mewtwo, who would certainly be better at this than her. She spent the next few minutes summarizing all that Ash had been through in the past couple days, and why. She also explained what his role was in relation to the pokemon world, and how that affected the human world. Brock took it all far better than Misty, having been there for the boy's entire journey, and being used to weird stuff happening to Ash. He even had the coherence to pour the soup, and finish the pokemon food while listening to the psychic type. Even so, he still needed some form of proof beyond a Mew that he could be hallucinating. As if on cue Ash and Misty came running out of the forest.

"I see you two already met. Sorry Brock I was just about to tell you about what happened." Ash said, looking between his pokemon and his friend. "How much did she tell you?"

_"Everything."_ Mew said, flying over to her trainer, and settling on his shoulder.

"How'd he react?" Misty asked the legendary.

_"Normally. He was shocked to see me at first, but he was calm when I was explaining stuff. Not all screamy like you Misty."_ Misty huffed, and everyone else laughed.

"I gotta say, as much as I want to believe it Ash, I have to see proof." Brock said.

"Well that's easy." Ash sent out Mewtwo, and explained the situation.

_"And I am validation of your claims?"_ Mewtwo asked looking between the two. _"Make no mistake Brock, Ash is the Chosen One, and for that reason I have followed him on his journeys. Now I would presume that you would like your memories restored from New Island?"_ Mewtwo saw Brock's surprise, and continued. _"I can sense that Mew explained, but could not remove my block without me. Very well here you are." _Mewtwo raised his paw and restored the trainer's memories from that day. Ash braced himself, waiting on the emotional torrent that had come with everyone else's revelation of that day.

"Ok. Mew had said that's how you died, but it's a little difficult to believe. Anyways soup is ready!" Brock said, setting bowls on the table. Everyone stared at him, waiting on him to break down and cry.

"Wait, what? Shouldn't it be all emotional and stuff? Everyone else has cried or something along those lines." Ash said.

"What, you dying? I mean, if I was watching it, yeah, but Mew already told me about it. And remember all the times you almost died? And every time a pokemon hits you, or you get in trouble with criminals or legendaries? I've seen it happen so many times, I'm almost used to it. You may not realize it Ash, but you get in trouble all the time." Brock said.

"Well, I guess when you put it like that; it really isn't that big a deal. Huh." Ash shrugged his shoulders.

_"Your ability to persevere through difficult odds is a reason that has earned you the trust of legendary pokemon, Ash."_ Mewtwo pointed out. Ash nodded, remembering Arceus explain just how much he had done. Finally hunger settled in again, and got the better of him.

"Well with that out of the way, let's eat!" Ash said. A week had been far, far too long without Brock's cooking. "Just one last thing to do. Did you make a bunch of pokemon food, Brock?"

"Yep. Mew told me about you getting your limit raised. Even after they can, most trainers don't take that option because it is a lot of responsibility to care for that many at once and get training in. I'll help you with the cooking, but you still have to balance team for when you can only use six at once. Not to mention you'll have to train all of them. Are you sure you can handle it?" Brock looked at the young trainer, and was met with Ash Ketchum's Determined Face™.

"Of course I can! If I'm going to be the best I have to be ready to train like the best, right guys?" Ash said.

"Right!/_Right!_" Pikachu and Mew said, pumped up. Mewtwo agreed as well, only without much enthusiasm. Pikachu made a note to work on that later.

"Alright, now come on out everyone, time for lunch!" Ash, Misty and Brock all let out their pokemon. Brock was taken aback by the amount of pokemon Ash had on him, but was more than prepared. He started crushing berries to put on top of food to match with certain types of pokemon. Finally he passed everything out, gave Snorlax a pink surprise pokeblock (which worked just as well as with Munchlax), and the humans sat down to eat their meal.

"Ash, you are the Chosen One? It makes sense; you have always had a strong bond with pokemon." Ash turned to see the speaker was none other than Steelix. He and the rest of Brock's team were at the end of the table where Ash was at. "It is an honor to be traveling with you again."

"Thanks!" Ash said, taking another spoonful of his soup.

"Would you mind telling us of the ceremony? It is a thing of legend that pokemon hear about all their lives. Did you see the mighty Groudon?" Ash was about to answer when something caught his eye.

"Pikachu tell them please, I have to go take care of something." He got up, and all eyes of Brock's pokemon turned to the electric mouse.

"Yes sir!" Pikachu did a mock salute then began to recap the whole thing. Meanwhile Ash walked around the group to where two pokemon were already about to fight.

"Alright you two, that's enough! No more fighting."

"She started it!" Bayleef said. Vaporeon was about to say something back, when Ash cut her off.

"It doesn't matter. All I want is for you two to get along, ok? Go play with some of the others." Ash said. It was already getting on his nerves, and if this fighting continued then Ash would have to find something to do with the two of them.

"Yes, Chosen One." Vaporeon said, looked at the ground moping off. Ash had forgotten just how young she was, and she acted like a small child there. He turned back to the other offender.

"Alright. Sorry, Ash." Bayleef bounded off to go find Sceptile who she had taken a liking to. "Hey Sceptile!" She looked around, but couldn't find him. In a nearby tree Sceptile watched her look for him silently praying she didn't look up. He knew how energetic she could be, and as a more antisocial pokemon he preferred his space. Shit, did she just see him?

Ash laughed as he watched Bayleef yell up to a tree. Soon she fired a razor leaf, and much to his surprise Sceptile fell out. He watched her chase him, but was interrupted by the sound of more trouble.

"Come on, we never got a real fight. Are you scared because I'll roast you alive, clone?" Ash turned around to see Charizard in Mewtwo's face, but the psychic type kept his calm, slowly chewing on a berry.

_"Do not test me lizard, my patience wears thin of your petty narcissism. I respect you as a teammate, but if Ash were not here, I would destroy you. In fact here he comes now."_ Both turned to see their trainer walking over. Without being told, Charizard turned to walk away.

"One day, Ash. One day you will let me burn him to the ground." Charizard walked away from his trainer and rival, going to see Squirtle and Pidgeot for the first time in years.

_"I shall relish the chance to clip his wings. He is strong, yes, but I am a legend. I presume, however, such a day will not come Ash?"_ He looked down to see the boy watching Charizard talk to Squirtle.

"Hopefully not. The last thing I need is two of my most powerful pokemon fighting. We need to be one team Mewtwo. That means that you two need to find a way to get along."

_"Of course, Ash. I have already promised you my loyalty. If that means making peace with a flying ego, then so be it." _Mewtwo turned back to watch the crowd of pokemon, choosing to remain an outsider. He watched Ash walk away and soon felt a presence to his left. He looked and it was none other than Bulbasaur.

"I know Charizard can be an ass, but he's a good guy once you get to know him. In fact, I bet you two will get along really well." The grass type said.

_"That is highly doubtful." _Mewtwo replied to the Kanto starter.

"Trust me I have a knack for these things. Anyways, have you met the rest of the team yet?" Bulbasaur asked.

_"Somewhat, but I prefer my privacy."_ Mewtwo went back to observing the pokemon, and noticed Ash holding a wild Gible at arm's length. The pokemon laughed at their young companion, and Mewtwo smiled.

"Come on! I'm sure you'll fit right in. Sceptile and you have a lot in common too, you know. Just kicking ass, and looking cool." Bulbasaur laughed at his own joke, and Mewtwo thought about it. Fitting in was something he hadn't ever been able to truly do, even amongst the legendaries.

_"Well, I suppose Ash would want me to know the team better."_ Mewtwo nodded towards the grass type, who smiled and led Mewtwo over to where Quilava, Totodile, and Noctowl were currently sitting.

* * *

_"Awww Mewtwo is making friends!" _Mew watched Mewtwo and Noctowl chatting amicably, well Noctowl anyway but she knew Mewtwo was talking. She looked down at the bloated Pikachu lying beside her on the table, and giggled. _"How did you eat three bowls of food? It was delicious, but wow." _Misty and Brock were also still at the table and chuckled.

"Like trainer, like pokemon they say. Pikachu overeats just as much as Ash does." Brock said.

"Arceus knows that's his trainer's doing alright." Misty said, and the three laughed at the electric type's expense. Pikachu's response was a burp, and a groan of stomach pain. The others laughed again.

"Where's Ash? He always has something for this." Pikachu said, wishing he could sit up, and look for his trainer. Mew scanned the gathering, looking for her trainer. She spotted him talking to Riolu and Buizel. She strengthened her telepathy, and targeted only Ash, so as not to interrupt everyone.

_"Ash I think Pikachu could use some… help."_ She saw her trainer sigh. He concluded his conversation with the two pokemon, and walk over to the table. When he saw the yellow ball that was Pikachu, he laughed.

"Brock's food that good buddy?" He asked, scooping the mouse into his arms. Pikachu just nodded, unable to do much else.

"The way Pikachu eats, you would think you didn't feed him Ash." Misty said, her and Brock both cracking a smile. Ash merely shook his head and walked over to where his bag was. He set Pikachu down, and started digging through it, looking for something that he always carried, a berry mix for upset stomachs. He found it and unscrewed the top. He took one whiff and recoiled, but nevertheless poured some in the cap for Pikachu.

"Alright buddy, drink up." Ash said, holding the cap to his starter.

"No, just give some of those pills humans take! It's so disgusting!" Pikachu protested, but knew before Ash came and got him that he would be drinking the awful mixture.

"I know, but you know you can't take human medicine. Now open wide!"

* * *

"Wow that always looks so bad. I hate medicine too." Misty said, watching Ash help his bloated starter.

"Yeah, but you love the sexy trainer helping a sick injured pokemon." Brock joked. He always loved the look of panic that crossed her face, before the rage.

"I do NOT like Ash Ketchum, Brock! We aren't starting this again!" She glared him down, in a way that only Misty could do, but the breeder had years of training, and held his ground.

"His bravery, his courage, that knight-in-shining-armor attitude." Misty was about to give Brock a verbal smack down, but he kept going. "Those rippling muscles." He said, smiling. Misty slowly cracked up, and they both started laughing at their friend.

"Good one Brock." Misty said wiping a tear away.

"Ya gotta face the facts though Misty. All the pokemon love him, and he's a free man." Brock knew she would say the same thing as always, but that didn't stop him from trying to play Cupid.

"I don't like him Brock; he's an immature idiot, so stop trying!" She stood up and left to go see her pokemon. As she walked away, she took one last look at Ash, and had to admit: he was in better shape now…

"She's so in denial." Both Brock and Mew said at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed. Soon Ash walked back to the table, after looking to make sure everything was alright with all the pokemon. He sat down, and gulped down another bowl of soup, even though it was getting cold. Ash finished, and realized they had better get moving. He stood up to go recall his pokemon, but as he reached his bag Brock stopped him.

"Ash, why don't we just have Mewtwo or Mew teleport us straight to the Indigo Plateau?" the breeder asked. Ash thought about it and realized that there was no reason not to. Besides if they didn't, it would be a long time before they got there on foot.

"Alright, no problem! Let's get everyone together then we'll leave." Brock nodded, and they set about fixing the campsite, and recalling everyone. Misty saw what was happening, and started doing the same. Finally all that was left was Mew, Mewtwo and Pikachu.

_"Wait!"_ Mew called, stopping Ash in the middle of pulling out her pokeball. He looked up at the legend.

"What is it Mew?" He asked.

_"We had a deal, remember? Once you told Brock about being the Chosen One, I could stay out of my pokeball." _ Ash rubbed his chin, thinking back. He _had_ forgotten about their conversation from that morning. But he was a man of his word.

"Alright, fine. What are you going to travel as?"

_"What do you want me to be? You're my trainer. I can be anything!"_ Mew hovered patiently, waiting on Ash to pick something. She would do whatever it takes to get to be outside all the time, like Pikachu was. It wasn't that she didn't like pokeballs, it was just the taste of the outdoors that she liked. Finally he picked something.

"Well the only things I could think of that I would be comfortable with are an eevee and a pichu or a pikachu. Since anyone would question a pikachu or a pichu, I guess that you should be an eevee." Ash said. He looked to his team leader, and Pikachu gave him a tired agreement from his shoulder, still exhausted from earlier.

_"Good, that's what I hoped you would pick!" _Mew focused, and turned into an eevee and hopped on her trainer's shoulder. "Well, I'm ready to go!" Ash nodded, and turned to look at the others. They nodded too.

_"If everyone is ready, I will teleport us now. We will land near the edge of the Pokemon League Village." _Everyone nodded again, and Mewtwo focused, his eyes glowing blue. A blue aura grew around him, and then expanded to fit their whole group. Slowly, they lifted off the ground from his psychic power, and then, they vanished.

* * *

**WHAT?! They vanished? What a cliffhanger. What if they missed their destination? Who knows where they will be next chapter. Texas? Probably.**

**Also I have a couple ideas I can't decide between, so I'll put it up to you guys. If I feel strongly one way or another I will do what I want, but as of right now here is what is going down.**

**Go to my profile and vote on my poll. It will be on an important plot point. It will be there until Oct 31 (halloween).**

**Anyways, you know how long 7100 words is? 16 pages in Word. That's a long ass chapter. Sooooooooo it would mean the world to me if you would be a supernatural level of awesome for a couple seconds and review. **

**Thanks!**

**And as CL4P-TP (but you can call him by his locally designated name) would say... See ya next time!**


	8. Solving

**Well, I'm back with a new update after a 3 month break. I was extremely busy, but I had other things I wanted to do and kept getting distracted.**

I have way, way to many points to address and comments to respond to for an author's note so i'm gonna keep it short.

A huge shout-out to Kauris Azurai for some great reviewing. You left great comments, and reading your reviews was like a reflection of the stories progression, and my progression as a writer. I loved it.

Other thanks to Yana5, Uranium235, and CDR2Magi. The first two forced me back into the story, which I have put off for too long. CDR Messaged me as I was uploading this asking me when I was going to upload, so I figured I would throw him in there too.

Sorry again, and I just want to say that the vote results that ended on Halloween did play a role in how this story unfolded. There were many directions I wanted to go with it, and I kept y'alls votes in mind. Anyways, enjoy the story!

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, or any characters affiliated with the brand. **

"Damn that hurt." Ash said as he felt his body pulse with pain. Mewtwo had certainly got them in the right spot, but ended up six feet off the ground. Ash had barely registered leaving the forest when he felt himself smack the earth. He looked around from where he was lying, and saw the other humans in about the same condition as he was. Pikachu was fine, however (the lucky rat), because he landed on Ash's stomach, and Mew and Mewtwo were alright too, of course, because they had anticipated it. Everyone groaned as they gathered themselves.

_"My apologies, Ash. Teleporting over long distances is always tricky to get perfectly precise."_ Mewtwo said as he surveyed the scene.

"Yep! Took me a loooong time to get it right. I still mess up sometimes if it's between regions._" _Mew added, hopping back on her trainer's shoulder as he stood up. Ash nodded and began to take a look around. He noticed they were in a small park that was probably on the outskirts of town. Sure enough, the stadium was off in the distance, marking the center of the League Village. But the stadium was… roaring? Were there matches going on in the off-season? Mewtwo heard it too, and answered Ash's unasked question.

_"I don't know if you were expecting the Village to be unpopulated, but I'm sensing a large gathering of humans at that building."_

"Well, it is the off season so I was expecting there not to be a tournament. I was hoping to just pass through and get some supplies for our journey up to Mt. Silver. You know, pokeballs, medicine, food, that sort of thing." Ash was trying to figure it out when Misty spoke up.

"You didn't hear about the tournament! It was all over the news." She said. The others looked at her like she was crazy.

"Well we were in Sinnoh." Brock replied, not liking the fact that he, usually the pathfinder of the group, hadn't heard of whatever Misty was talking about.

"I'm surprised you didn't hear about it, even that far away. Anyways, about halfway through the season the Pokemon League put out a notice saying that the Indigo League Tournament would be delayed for a few days, but they never announced why. Everyone was talking about it!" Ash and Brock were shocked that the League had pushed the dates, something they weren't known to do.

"Well, we're here now; let's go figure out why!" Ash exclaimed, getting pumped up. He recalled Mewtwo, after thanking him for his help, and they set off towards the stadium. _'They probably only have a couple matches left today. I wonder how far they are in the tournament.'_ It kicked in that he hadn't just enjoyed watching a tournament in person in years (he was always competing), and he started to get excited at the prospect.

"Let's go check out who's in it! I wonder if we'll see anyone we know." Pikachu said, the excitement getting him over his stomach ache as if it never existed. The pokemon on Ash's other shoulder was just as excited too.

"I've never seen a Pokemon League match before!" Mew said. "I always avoided them because everyone would try and catch me. But now I have a trainer, so let's go!" The entire group was brimming with energy and they were about to take off at light speed, when Brock stopped them.

"Hold on, Ash! We need to figure out what's going on around here. Besides, me and Misty are coming with you too, so you had might as well wait on us." Ash sighed, and admitted his friend was right. The five set off towards the stadium, and started getting into the main part of the Village. Mew was whipping her head left and right, soaking up all of her surroundings. "Well, it's pretty deserted out here, so they must be past the preliminaries." Brock observed, looking at all the empty stores and restaurants.

"What are preliminaries?" Mew asked, tilting her head at Ash.

"The first matches in a tournament. They're shorter than normal, and filter out the best trainers." Ash replied.

"Hey, look at that!" Misty caught the others' attention, and they all turned to see a wall ahead of them. As they got closer, they realized that it was a wall of tents centered right outside the main square around the stadium. It was kept a distance from the stadium by some metal gates a few feet between the wall and the stadium. "Why are there so many tents?" She asked.

"The hotels obviously didn't have enough room for everyone, and the Pokemon Center rooms are only for trainers at tournaments, so these are all people here to watch. My question is: why are there so many people here?" Brock said. The five were silent for a minute, each trying to figure it out as they weaved through the makeshift maze. They had just passed the last of the tents, when a deafening roar went up from the stadium in front of them. It had been unusually quiet as they grew closer, and the sudden noise made them all jump.

"I wonder what happened! It must have been awesome!" Ash yelled over the crowd, even more excited now, with his starter mirroring him.

"What in the world was that!" Mew screamed, also trying to be heard. The roar died down a little then started right back up. "How many people are in there?!"

"Like 70,000 normally, but that sounded like a lot more!" Pikachu yelled back.

"What?! We have to fight in front of that many people! The most I've ever been near is a couple." Mew subconsciously cowered behind Ash's head, while the electric type was nearly bounding off the walls. The crowd finally died down, but Ash and Pikachu were almost vibrating with energy, as Misty and Brock stared slack-jawed at the stadium.

"I know isn't it awesome! Go Ash, go! Let's go see what happened!" The rodent pushed his trainer's head forward, trying to get him to go, and Ash shot off like a rocket. Mew could only cling for dear life as they ran towards the gigantic structure in front of them.

He only made it a couple steps before the tsunami hit. People stampeded out of the stadium, and Brock and Misty could only watch as the trio in front of them was trampled beneath the tides of the masses. Oddly enough though, the two gym leaders stood, unmovable (still trying to process what was going on since the first roar), and the living sea parted around them, filling the tents and the streets. Once the storm passed they saw three figures lying in the middle of the road.

"What was that?" Mew groaned.

"People… maybe. They felt more like rocks." Pikachu moaned back. The three got up, and dusted themselves off, as Misty and Brock reached them.

"Did you guys see how many people there were?" Brock asked, not believing the attendance this tournament had.

"Yeah, and we _felt_ how many people there were." Ash grumbled, putting his pokemon back on his shoulders. "Let's find out what happened already!" He started heading for the tents again.

"Where should we start?" Brock asked, as he and Misty followed the boy back into the artificial campsite.

"The Pokemon Center's usually the best place to find stuff out." Misty said, and the five set off across the market that was set up for the tournament. They caught snippets of conversations as they went by, only piquing their curiosity even more.

"… And what a comeback!" One guy was saying.

"… Probably had a good teacher…"

"… He'll be great one day…"

"… His whole team was well groomed…"

"… Lucky…"

"…That gallade was something else…"

Finally, after about a half hour, they reached the Pokemon Center and were no closer to solving the mystery than when they set off. Ash nearly broke down the doors trying to get in, and ran right up to Nurse Joy. Now Ash is a fast kid, and everyone knows how hard he is to keep up with, but _nothing_ on this planet, neither human nor pokemon, is faster than Brock to a woman. The second the doors were open, he was on his knee begging for the mercy of her presence.

"My beautiful princess, my illustrious goddess! How I would give you everything if only you would give me the honor of your time!" Of course, one must bear the trials and tribulations that come with the search for true love, and the witch called Misty was quick to remind him of that. Like a kingler, she snatched him up by the ear and hauled him off from the nurse.

"If you don't shut up, I'll give you the honor of my foot up your ass." She told him. He nodded quickly, and she let him go. "It's been too long since I've done that, I'm getting slow."

"Yeah, well, you hurt way worse than even Croagunk, if that makes you feel better." Brock mumbled, rubbing his ear. He'd forgotten what a grip the girl had.

"It does, actually." She smiled at the thought.

"Besides what are you interrupting me for, shouldn't you be worried about getting your own date?" he replied, smirking. A swift kick to the shin shut him up, and Misty looked to make sure Ash hadn't heard.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Brock! I thought I just told you earlier that I didn't like Ash like that." She stormed off to find the bathroom. Even though the kick hurt Brock was laughing.

"Who said anything about Ash?" Of course it _was_ Ash, but she was filling in the blanks herself now…

* * *

Ash watched them leave, one dragging the other, and turned back to Nurse Joy. She was smiling though, which confused him.

"So that's Brock? And you're Ash Ketchum." She said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, how did you know?" He asked. Usually whatever Nurse Joy Brock hit on would be shell-shocked for a little bit, and extremely confused about what just happened to them.

"Well Brock's made a name for himself among our little family, and there was very little chance of two men acting like he just did. As for you, you two are always together, you're quite popular with us yourself, and you came in fourth in the Sinnoh League, so I probably could have recognized you regardless. Especially with that pikachu on your shoulder." She kept smiling as she explained, and Ash was surprised that the Joys knew who Brock and himself were.

"Oh, well, er… thanks!" He said. "Anyways, I was wondering: why there are so many people here?" As he asked the question he realized that the Center's lounges were just as crowded as it was outside.

"Well the League pushed the date for the tournament, something they never do, and everyone has shown up just to figure out why. There has to be something big happening, probably some big announcement. So far they haven't said anything special, and my guess is they'll break the news at the end." Ash face-palmed. How could they have not seen the connection? Of course the crowd was here because the tournament had some huge mystery, they were stupid not to figure that out. Now to problem two.

"But what was that huge roar that went off earlier?" Joy thought for a second, and then shook her head.

"I don't know; I have to stay here all day. I'm sure everyone else knows though, so you could probably find out from someone in here. If I had to guess I'd say it was a great finish to a great match. Since there are so many people here, and there is some big mystery, I heard that all the matches so far have been spectacular! All the contestants must really be battling their hardest out there. We've certainly seen a lot of action here at the Pokemon Center. Whatever it was though, it was pretty loud, so I'm confident it was something big."

"Hmm… well, now I'm just more curious. Thanks for your help Nurse Joy!" She nodded and was quickly distracted by a boy who ran in with an injured marill.

"This is killing me!" Pikachu said, finally speaking up. The excitable mouse was practically pulling out his charged fur at this point. Mew stayed silent, however, still taking in the sights and sounds of the Pokemon Center, and her first real exposure to human civilization.

"Me too, buddy. Let's go ask someone." Ash and his hitchhikers pushed their way through the excited crowd, ignoring all the looks that he was getting from the pokemon around the Center, until they saw an old man who was by himself. Ash assumed he was waiting on his pokemon to come from a checkup and went to talk to him. "Excuse me, sir? What happened in that match just now? I heard a huge roar and-" The old man jumped out of his chair and stared Ash right in the eye.

"You mean you _weren't_ there?! Why it was the most amazing spectacle my eyes have beheld in decades! A story to be told for generations! AN INCREDIBLE BATTLE! The very act of not attending such a sight is so…so…wait. Who are you again?" As Ash was trying to figure out what the hell just happened, a young man walked up to the two.

"Grandpa, calm down, you weren't there either, remember? You were taking a nap in the tent." He then turned to Ash. "Sorry about that, he's a little crazy sometimes."

"Crazy like a haunter!" the old man cackled.

"That's still crazy, Grandpa! That's like, a normal level of insanity." The young man shook his head and turned back to Ash. "Anyways you missed a great match! It was between Katie from Lilycove City, I'm sure you've seen her, and Max Maple, some new kid outta Petalburg City. I don't know what they're doing here in Kanto, but they were really good. Supposedly Max is Norman Maple's son, and the coordinator May Maple's brother, and you could definitely see the talent that family has. It started off as a one-sided battle though, and before you knew it, she had lost one, and he had lost four! Then he pulled out a gallade, and it started knocking down her pokemon like they were magikarp! Katie's golduck edged out his gallade though, and it turned into a standoff between that golduck and his last pokemon, a vigoroth. In the end though, that vigoroth was just too tough to bring down, and Max won after a huge comeback." Ash and Pikachu were shocked to hear the name of their old traveling companion, especially in a battle that epic.

"Wow, that's amazing! I wish I was there to see it." Ash said, disappointed he had missed Max's first tournament battles.

"Yeah it was good. It was mainly luck though, and that gallade. I thought she had him beat. The only reason he won was because that vigoroth was determined to stay up. It doesn't matter though, because I'm battling Max tomorrow and I'm going to win." The man said confidently.

"… I still don't know who you are." Ash said as he tried to see if he recognized him. The trainer's pride was shot, but he regained his composure instantly.

"My name's Pete Pebbleman." The two shook hands. "I tried to win the Indigo League a few years back, but I wasn't ready. I've done some training though, and even came in eighth in the Silver Conference last year. Now I think I have a good shot at least top four, and maybe a chance to win the whole thing."

"That's great! It sounds like you put in a lot of hard work. My names Ash Ketchum!" he was about to continue but Pete recognized him.

"Oh yeah, weren't you the guy who fought Tobias? That guy with a darkrai and a latios?"

"Yeah." Ash said thinking back to the loss.

"I didn't get to see the battle, but I heard it was awesome! I bet he was real tough."

"Yeah he was." Ash started to think about the battle again, but he saw Misty and Brock and remembered why he was over here. "But I'll bet you anything Max will be just as tough. I'm actually a friend of his so I can tell you he won't go down without a fight." The fire in Pete's eyes was back now.

"Good! I'll be looking forward to a good match then! Who knows maybe we can battle one day too?" Ash nodded at that.

"I'm looking forward to it." The two shook hands.

"Did he say his name was Carl? I bet he enjoys sweaters." Ash heard Pete's grandpa say as he walked away. The boy and his two pokemon laughed.

"He looked like he knew what he was doing," Pikachu said as Ash pushed through the crowd with several 'excuse me's and 'sorry's. "I bet Max will have a really tough battle tomorrow."

"Yeah it should be a good one! I can't wait to see what other pokemon Max has." Ash said. Finally, he pushed through the last wall of people and found Misty and Brock by the door. They all quickly stepped outside to get out of the cluster of people in the Pokemon Center. Ash explained what Nurse Joy told him, and what Pete told him, and they had much the same reactions as him.

"Max was really smart; I'm not surprised he got a strong team together so quickly." Misty said, thinking back to the time she had been with May and Max.

"He was always so excited about pokemon, I bet he has more than you already Ash!" Brock joked. Ash laughed too, remembering how Max would not shut up about anything having to do with pokemon.

"Yeah, he's gonna go crazy if he wants to travel with us again, because then I'll have to tell him too." Ash ruffled 'Eevee's fur as they all laughed at the thought. "I bet this one will make him pass out from the shock."

"I don't know, Mewtwo can be pretty scary. My money's on him." Pikachu said. "Sorry Mew, you're just too nice."

"Mewtwo is too! He's just a big softie." She said, and both Ash and Pikachu shook their heads in denial. Pikachu cringed at the thought of ever calling him 'big softie' to his face. Being obliterated was not on his to do list.

It was already late in the afternoon, and no more battles were going on; Max's was the last one. So with nothing better to do, now that they had found out what they could about the tournament, they set off to find some shops. It was boring, but it would hold their attention for a couple hours until they ate dinner. Soon they found themselves in an open market which only stayed open for the tournament. Mew was adjusted by this point and was firing off questions left and right, Pikachu straining to keep up (Ash couldn't really answer unless people thought he was nuts).

They ended up in a merchandise tent that was more of an entire clothing store crammed into a tent, complete with several clothing lines and brands. Ash was less than thrilled of course, but Brock had stuff he needed and Misty was still a girl, so they took off with Ash wandering the store aimlessly. Finally Ash decided to wait outside before he wandered near the woman's underwear, something neither he nor his starter had any desire to go over with Mew. He told Brock and Misty, and made his way out.

Between our young hero's coordination, however, and the group of shoppers by the entrance, he bumped into one person and tripped over someone else. He stumbled out the door and slammed into a girl who was walking by the tent, sending the whole group to the ground. Luckily, Pikachu and Mew held onto his shirt and just had a light bump from hitting the ground. The same couldn't be said for Ash, who was now pinned under the girl, and had her elbow digging into his ribs. She hopped up and brushed herself off, turning around to berate the boy for knocking her down.

"Now just what do you think you're-?!" She stopped, realizing who the trainer getting to his feet in front of her was. "Ash?! What are you doing here?" May Maple said as she pulled him into a hug. Ash still had no clue what was going on from when he left the tent so it wasn't until she pulled back that he recognized her.

"May?!" He asked, getting a good look at the girl standing in front of him. She looked slightly different from when they saw each other in the Wallace Cup, but she still wore the same outfit he last saw her in with the orange shirt and green bandanna. The main differences were in her physicality. She was a little taller, though he had grown faster and he was now slightly taller than her. His old traveling partner was also a little curvier and bigger across the chest, something not lost on Ash. He always tried to avoid thinking about his friends that way though, and quickly avoided his eyes. "I'm just passing through. What are the chances I'd run into you of all people?"

"Literally!" She laughed. "I'd say that's fate Ash, if you're just passing through. You know, like some cosmic power or Arceus or something like that."

"Nah, he said he'd leave me alone." Ash mumbled as he stretched his back.

"What?" She asked.

"Oh, er, nothing!" he replied, quickly blowing it off. She would have pushed that line of questioning if it wasn't for the two bundles of fur that made themselves noticed. Mew jumped back onto Ash's shoulder, taking in the scene, while Pikachu jumped into May's arms for a hug.

"Hey Pikachu! It's been a while." She rubbed the pokemon's head and he went into cuddle mode. She looked up and noticed the other pokemon he had. "When did you get an eevee, Ash?" She asked while still petting Pikachu, who now had a smirk on his face.

"Yeah Ash, did you even think of a back-story?" Pikachu said, and he and Mew looked to their trainer.

_'Shit, I totally forgot about that. Uh…"_ Ash was drawing a blank, so he threw something out there. "Oh, uh, I got Eevee here… when I visited Professor Oak. He said she kept showing up, and was always hanging around with my pokemon. I asked if she wanted to come with us and she agreed." He thought it was pretty good for a moment's notice. Mew let out an enthusiastic 'Eev!', going along with Ash's story.

"Quick thinking, Mr. Ketchum." Pikachu said, nuzzling into May for more cuddles. Much to his dismay, however, she exchanged him for the newer model and picked Mew off of his shoulder. Mew was the more affectionate of the two anyways.

"Well she is so cute!" May said, hugging the legendary tightly. Pikachu huffed and crossed his arms, watching the two cuddle and hug and… and that should be him over there, dammit!

"Why'd you let her stay out of her pokeball if she's just going to steal my attention, Ash?" The electric type complained, watching Mew take his spot, and his woman. Ash just smirked at the fact that his first pokemon had some competition now. It was then that he saw Brock and Misty coming out of the shop, both carrying a couple bags. He waved them over, and they both started waving back when they saw who he was with.

"Hey May! It's good to see you again!" Brock said, reaching the group first.

"Yeah, it's been years!" Misty added.

"Hey you guys! Guess you're all traveling together, huh?" May said.

"Yep! We're all back together." Misty said.

"Great!" May was about to continue when both her and Ash's stomachs rumbled violently. They both looked at each other. "Guess nothing's changed, huh?" May said and they both laughed while the others sighed at the pair. "Well, I was on my way to dinner when Ash ran into me. You guys wanna come? I heard about this great restaurant not far from the hotel I'm staying in." She put Mew back on Ash's shoulder, and waited on the group's response. Pikachu felt better now that May was single again. He was a pika of cuddles, and he didn't share.

"Sure, I'm getting pretty hungry myself. I figured we were about to get dinner anyways." Brock said.

May nodded and led the group down the street, talking to them as they went. She told them how she and Ash had run into each other, and Misty and Brock laughed. She and Misty eventually got into a conversation about the shops here, and some other shopping stuff. Ash didn't care about any of that though, so he naturally fell to the back of the group to listen to his pokemon. Mew was back into chatter mode, with Pikachu trying to keep up again. It was annoying for the trainer (having the two right next to his ears), but he let it slide because it wasn't hurting anyone, and Mew would have to know most of this eventually. Finally they arrived at a decent looking restaurant tucked between two stores.

"Here we are! The Lucky Egg diner. Let's check it out." May and the others went in and found themselves in a classic diner style restaurant. A bubbly young waitress quickly came and sat them in the corner booth, with Pikachu and Mew on Ash's end of the table. The four humans put in their orders while Pikachu explained all about restaurants to Mew.

"So why are you here May?" Brock asked, noting she hadn't said anything about it. "Just to watch Max?"

"Yeah, pretty much." The coordinator shrugged her shoulders. "I had just got back to Johto when Mom gave me a call and told me Max was coming to Kanto! She said the second he woke up on his birthday he was over at Professor Birch's."

"What pokemon did he get as a starter?" Ash asked excitedly. Pikachu perked up at the thought.

"Ah, ah, ah!" May smirked shaking her finger at him. He slumped in defeat. "You know how he looks up to you! You'll have to ask him yourself. Or see for yourself in his battle tomorrow. Anyways, Mom said he ran in and told them he wanted to go to Kanto! Of course they were surprised, they hadn't heard anything about it and wanted details. You know how Max can be though, and next thing they knew he was on a flight to Pewter city."

"How did he get his badges so fast?" Brock asked, now trying to figure out how Max had even gotten into the tournament.

"Without fighting me or Brock? I know there are other gyms besides the big 8, but he should have come to see us." Misty added.

"Well, to answer Brock's question, he already had three pokemon when he landed in Kanto." Everyone gasped at the revelation and they all started to ask the same question. "I'm not going to tell you!" Everyone sighed in defeat, and she continued. "Yep he already had three pokemon, and he was making great time. Not to mention that we had already been to Kanto, so he had an idea of where he wanted to go. And to answer Misty's question, he didn't come see you two 'cause he knew you two would be difficult to beat. Plus he wanted to surprise you guys at the tournament." They all digested this for a second before Ash broke the silence.

"Why did he even want to come here instead of Hoenn?"

"I asked him the same thing. He said he wanted to go somewhere besides Hoenn, and Kanto had cool pokemon. He also said that he knew where he wanted to go in Kanto, and that he might do the Battle Frontier after the tournament. You know, he almost didn't even make it in the tournament." She laughed. "He didn't even know it had been pushed until he got to Viridian City. He only had one day left, and he said he ran into the gym to challenge the leader, AJ. He said he was really hard to beat, but he did it. He found out from AJ that the date was pushed, and was mad that he had rushed so much. He got here like a week ahead, and me, Mom, and Dad got here a couple days after."

They all laughed at Max's misfortune. The waitress brought out their food and a couple of bowls for the pokemon. Ash and May started shoveling through their food like a pair of sandslashs digging a tunnel. Their forks flew through the air at blurring speeds, putting the fastest pokemon to shame. Mew could only watch in horror at the two, mouth agape. Suddenly Ash stopped as he realized something.

"May I never asked: how did you do in Johto?" The others stopped too and looked at the girl. She stopped and daintily patted her mouth with her napkin before answering.

"I never told you, did I?" She dug through her pack to find what she was looking for. "Look!" She said, holding out her case with five ribbons, and an ornate plaque depicting a large badge on the front with the words 'May Maple Johto Grand Festival Runner-Up' above and below it. "Second Place! I only lost to Solidad."

"That's great, May! You keep getting better and better. At this rate, you'll win the next one." Ash said.

"Thanks Ash, that means a lot." The girl said, happy to have her old teacher again. _'I definitely missed him in Johto, but it was good to take on a region by myself.'_ Her inner contemplation was interrupted when she realized Ash had told her barely anything of what he had been doing. "So how'd you do in Sinnoh?"

"4th place!" Ash said, the others nodding.

"You did pretty good yourself, Ash!" She praised.

"Yeah, the guy I lost to, Tobias, won the whole thing. He had two legendary pokemon though so it wasn't really fair." Ash said, thinking back. Everyone else but May snickered at the irony in Ash's statement, but Ash himself missed it.

"Yeah, what a cheap way to win." Misty added, still holding in a laugh.

"Completely unfair! One legendary is strong enough, but I couldn't imagine having two." Brock said.

"Well I don't know, they're still pokemon. What's so funny?" May demanded, obviously having no clue why everyone was obviously trying not to laugh.

"N-nothing." Misty replied, regaining composure.

"Well Ash, you did great, and I'm sure you'll do even better next time. Speaking of which, where are you guys going? Ash said you were passing through, but he didn't give details." May thought back and realized he hadn't touched on the subject again.

"I'm training for a tournament that's in a couple months!" Ash explained. "So Misty and Brock are joining me until the next battle season."

"Where is it taking place?" May was curious why he wouldn't be going to a new region, or taking on a past one.

"Oh, uh… I… don't… _really_ know." The trainer admitted, embarrassed that he really had no details about the tournament whatsoever. May just looked at him with curiosity written all over her face.

"How do you not know where it is?" She asked.

"Well I really don't know anything about it. Just that it's taking place in a couple of months, and only the best can get in." She just shook her head at his Ash-ness.

"Leave it to you to train all summer for a tournament that you know nothing about." The rest of the group agreed. The bill came, and they spent a little bit trying to figure out who owed what. Finally they paid, and left the restaurant, finding themselves back in the mostly emptied streets with the sun setting over the buildings

"Well, we had better find someplace to stay, huh guys?" Ash said.

"You really weren't planning on coming here, were you?" May questioned, mainly in disbelief that they had no intention to end up at the tournament, and had just sort of wandered in. "All the hotels are booked, and good luck setting up a tent in the Plaza. It's hard enough just to walk through."

"It sounds like another night of camping then." Brock said. Ash was silently thankful, because he wanted to get some training done before Max's battle, and it would be impossible in an urban setting.

"Sorry. But we should meet up before the battle!" May said. They all agreed, and she gave them directions. "Ok, his battles at noon, so maybe 10:00?" More nodding. "Alright! Meet me in the lobby of The Mirage Island. It's that building…" she turned around to search the skyline, "there." The building she pointed to was a generic hotel model, but the gold coloring and decorative trimmings made it easy to pick out. They all parted with goodbyes, and split ways. Ash and co. headed off towards the side where Mt. Silver was peeking over the horizon, so that it would be easier to get going after camp was cleaned up.

"I can't believe I'm going to get to see Max battle!" Ash yelled, pumping his fist.

"I know it should be quite the battle! He always had it in him to be a great trainer." Brock agreed.

"I'm just excited to see my first battle!" Mew added. The conversation carried on like that until they reached woods. With almost the entire day recounted, and night settled in, they tried to find a spot to set up camp. Finally, with no success, Ash used the Pidgeot method again and hunted down a satisfactory clearing to post up in. With camp set up, everyone scrambled into their sleeping bags hoping for some peaceful shut-eye. It had been a long day, between Brock finding out, and running into May again. Ash heard Pikachu and Mew curl up next to him, and their soft breathing quickly put him to sleep.

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**Well, there you go! May, max, and a tournament mystery.**

There wasn't much pokemon involvement this chapter, so I felt it didn't have the humor and dynamism that it normally does. I also felt that not writing for so long affected the chapter, but that's for you to decide. This was one of those chapters that had to be written to move the plot along.

**That's all for now. Next chapter: friends reunite! Feelings are found! Honor on the battlefield! GLORY! SPILL THE BLOOD OF YOUR ENEMIES AS THEY... they... it's ok, i'm alright. I just, um, I just went to a place there for a second. Please don't spill the blood of your enemies as they beg for mercy.**

**Well with that said, I bid you budew. Review!**


	9. Battling

**Well, I'm back again! It has been a terribly grueling semester for me, and sadly I haven't been able to update until now. College always takes precedence over the story, and I have had zero time to do anything besides work. The semester's over though, so I have all summer now!**

**Anyways: responses! I have quite a few, but I'll do what I can. Thanks to the usuals (Analon, Yana5, Uranium235, CDR2Magi, and JLgods01) for making me come back to the story. I feed off of feedback, and I love hearing what you guys have to say.**

**Anyone who asked when I'm going to update: As soon as I finish writing this author's note.**

**AutumnalCheese: That sounds awesome! Thanks for even giving my story a thought. Private Message me with details so I know what you're taking, but I'm pretty lenient and will probably let you use whatever (as long as it isn't copy 'n' paste).**

**xRoosiee: I DID know that Mew can change her form, as I'm sure you found out in later chapters :)**

**Thanks again to Kauris Azurai for deconstructing my chapter! I always enjoy reading your reviews.**

**I've seen some theories tossed around in regards to the tournament mystery... not going to give spoilers, but let's say that some of you are on the right track.**

**Finally, about the chapter itself. At 8,500 words its a monster, took me a long ass time to write, and is the longest chapter I've ever written by about 800 words not including the author's note. Don't be intimidated! I promise it moves fast.**

**Enjoy :)**

* * *

**Standard disclaimer: Jumping off buildings may lead to gravity related injuries. Also, I do not own Pokemon, or any of the characters associated with it.**

Chapter 9- Battling

The sunlight broke through the clearing the following morning, rousing everyone in the camp. Brock was the first up, and almost instinctually began making breakfast for the group of young travelers. Pikachu and Mew, still an eevee, stretched while Ash and Misty wearily crawled out of their sleeping bags. The young pokemon master and his orange-haired companion drug their sleepy selves and the two pokemon over to the fire that Brock was frying eggs over. None of them had gotten a good night's sleep, and everyone just watched as Ash slowly fell forwards off the rock he was sitting on. Nobody was surprised to hear snoring a second later.

"Whar w doin' t'day?" Misty mumbled, following the question up with a big yawn.

"Goin' to see Max battle I think," Brock replied, while proving that he probably could cook a full meal in his sleep.

"Alright!" Ash yelled, shooting off the ground in an instant. Misty and Mew nearly jumped out of their skins as Ash and Pikachu started yelling. They were amazed to see the pallet native dressed in an instant with his starter on his shoulder, clearly ready to leave. Brock didn't even flinch, and slowly scooped everyone's food onto a plate or into a bowl.

"Can you believe it buddy? I can't wait!" Pikachu agreed with his trainer and both tucked into their food. In a flash they were done with their breakfast, and were off rummaging through his bag. They found what they wanted, and the others watched as the duo ran off into the woods. Mew knew they were going to train, and made to follow, but a motion from Brock stopped her.

"Don't worry about it Mew," he said, looking down at the surprised pokemon. "They're just going off to train a little bit, and waste some time before we leave. You should just relax and eat your food." The breeder yawned and sat down to eat his own meal. The small pokemon looked up at him in confusion, and Misty asked her question for her.

"What just happened?" She couldn't tell if she was more amazed that Ash and Pikachu ran off, or that Brock took it all in stride. The oldest group member yawned again and took everyone's plates and silverware.

"Sorry, I keep forgetting how used to his antics I am by now," the elder boy admitted. "Well, you know how Max is, right?" Misty nodded, thinking back to the few times they met. She didn't see how that was connected, though. "Well, he definitely showed promise to be a good trainer, and Ash kinda sees him as his student in a way. Ash was Max's idol, second only to his dad, and by the time we split up I was even questioning that."

"That makes sense, Ash was pretty excited about it yesterday," she remembered. Mew just took it all in, trying to learn as much as she could about her trainer.

"Yeah, well, he's going to be like that the whole way there," Brock said, watching what was undoubtedly Ash's pidgeot fly around the sky. The two trainers and their legendary companion were silent for a while, watching the bird. Clearly lost in their own thoughts, everyone jumped when Ash ran back out of the woods. He stopped by Brock, wheezing for air.

"Ready to go?" The winded trainer asked as soon as he could talk. Brock just laughed, thinking about the conversation he and Misty had had, and everyone finished getting ready to leave.

"What pokemon do you think Max has on his team?" Pikachu pondered as they left camp. Ash relayed the question, and everyone was in deep thought, toying with the different possibilities.

"Well, we already know he has Gallade," Ash put forward, "and Vigoroth too. He probably has his starter with him also." The others nodded at the idea.

"Yeah, I bet the gallade was that ralts he helped. And the vigoroth was from Petalburg. May did say that he had three pokemon before he even left. That must be those three." The group agreed with Brock's idea too. Even though the chances of Max finding the ralts again were slim, stranger things had happened.

"The other three are the ones I'm stuck on." Misty added.

"I bet he has a dragonite." The cat-turned-fox theorized. "I would if I was a trainer." Ash and Pikachu couldn't help but laugh, and Mew pouted. "What? They're really strong!" She couldn't figure out why they were laughing, having fought plenty of enraged dragons herself.

"Well, yeah!" Pikachu kept snickering at her naivety.

"Everyone would have a dragonite if they could!" Her trainer put in. The other two humans started laughing, having understood, and that only made her madder. "The problem is they're really rare. That's why only the top trainers, like Lance of the Elite Four, have them." Her response was not what he expected.

"They aren't that rare. I know a place with a whole bunch of dragonites, dratinis and dragonairs." The two started coughing on their laugh. Mew just giggled, feeling vindicated. Ash passed along the info and they all were stunned.

"That's amazing! Maybe I'll have to check it out sometime," her trainer said thoughtfully.

"Well… maybe not." He tilted her head at her and she explained. "They've been having some border disputes, and most of the time they're really, really, _really_, not happy. So until you get your powers under control, I wouldn't go there, 'K?" She was still happy and bubbly, even when shooting down his dreams. They were fairly quiet for the rest of the journey, with the exception of Mew's continual questioning about human society. By about 9:45, they were walking up the steps to The Mirage Island Hotel. The receptionist greeted them with a cheery smile, and a comment about Ash's lovely eevee (pissing off Pikachu), and pointed them to a lounge by the lobby. The group of humans and pokemon entered the lounge to find the Maple family waiting on them. Norman, father of May and Max Maple, was the first one to reach them.

"Hey Ash, it's been a while!" The two shook hands, and Norman analyzed the pokemon on his shoulder. "Pikachu is looking a strong as ever! And what a healthy looking eevee!" Mew and Pikachu both said their thanks, and Norman continued. "Brock, good to see you again too!" As with Ash, the two shook hands and exchanged greetings. "And you must be Misty! I've heard you're quite the gym leader. May tells me you used to travel with Ash?" Misty smiled at the praise.

"Yep! I found him after fishing him out of a river when he started his journey." Everyone laughed and the trainer in question hung his head. "I went to see what he was doing when he got back from Sinnoh, and decided to travel with him again."

"Great! Sounds like you're on another adventure Ash. Speaking of Sinnoh, I have to say: that was some battle you gave Tobias. I know you lost but taking out two legendary pokemon is quite a feat! I wonder how he got them."

"I don't know. Sometimes pokemon find you instead," he replied, causing both Norman and the two pokemon currently perched on his shoulder to laugh.

"Isn't that the truth," the older man said. Caroline, who had been speaking with the other two, popped up next to him. She surprised Ash by giving him a hug.

"Thank you for looking after May and Max! Brock said he did most of the work," Ash shot his friend a glare and he looked away, whistling, "but I know you're a good kid. I don't think either of them would have been nearly as successful as they have been without you." The Pallet native just smiled and waved it off. He enjoyed traveling with the siblings, and even though they were annoying at times (he finally knew how Brock felt when Misty and his self fought), they were great traveling companions.

"Hey, where is May?" Misty said, finally noting her absence. The group had been talking for a while, and nobody had realized that she still hadn't appeared. Norman looked down at his watch and realized that they needed to get going. Caroline smirked.

"Oh, she just had to go freshen up real quick. She's been awfully worried about her appearance this morning." She glanced over at Ash, and tried not to laugh. Misty didn't catch her meaning, but her 'competitive bitch' sensors tingled at the statement. Five minutes and some small talk later, May finally came into the lounge.

"Sorry I'm late, guys!" She apologized, and Norman ushered everyone out the doors so they could start the long trek towards the stadium. They had left so early because the long walk was made longer by the impossibly large crowds trying to cram into the narrow roads of the small town developed around the stadium. Norman and Ash ended up at the front of the group.

"So, Ash, what are you up to this time around? You've already taken on all of the regional tournaments." Norman knew about the Battle Frontier, and some of the other things Ash had done that weren't related to official League tournaments, and figured it was something along those lines.

"I'm training for a new tournament! It's kind of a minor thing but it's going to be really intense. You know, we actually weren't planning on coming to the Indigo League Tournament. We didn't hear that the date got moved since we were traveling in Sinnoh, and we were hoping to pass through and get some supplies for our trip." Norman was shocked by that; he figured everyone had heard about the tournament. While it was great that Ash got here in time to see Max battle, this raised another question in his head that none of the kids had apparently thought of.

"So if you weren't planning on coming, how do you plan to get inside without tickets?" Norman watched realization pass over Ash's face.

"OH Shhhhhhhhhooooooot." He censored himself in front of the adults and turned to the rest of the group. "Guys, we don't have any tickets!" The others had that same slow realization that Ash did as everyone realized they had no way to get in. Brock, being the planner of the group, had an idea.

"Maybe they'll let us in since we know you guys?" That sounded fine to the rest of the group, so they kept going through the line. Norman had managed to get some VIP seats for his son's battles through some friends of his at the League. Normally, the VIP box wasn't at full capacity, and the kids were counting on that so they could squeeze inside. It wasn't unheard of to get a cheap or free seat upgrade for battles without a large crowd, especially if it was the preliminaries. The group reached a small gate between two of the much larger main entrances. There were four entrances to the ring of VIP boxes, and each one had a staircase that led directly up to them so the ticket-holders didn't have to fight the crowd. Unfortunately, the attendant at the gate shut the whole plan down.

"Sorry guys, I can't let you in. I really feel bad for saying it, but there's no way you're getting in without a ticket." The attendant had sympathized with their dilemma, but she wasn't about to risk her job. "We sold all of the tickets for the VIP boxes before the tournament even started." That was a shocker, and left them in a pickle. Norman looked at his watch and shook his head.

"I wish I could help you guys out, but we have to get in there. I would say try a scalper, but I think tickets are going fast. Whatever you do, I hope you guys hurry." Everyone understood, and said their goodbyes. Once again on their own, Ash, his pokemon, Brock, and Misty all tried to form a plan.

"I could teleport us in, if you get somewhere where I can transform," Mew said. Pikachu shook his head.

"Too noticeable, that room is full of humans. Not to mention that's illegal." Pikachu had explained basic human laws to her, and she understood the premise. Suddenly Brock had an idea (again).

"Well it's a long shot, but it may work." Everyone gave him their full attention. They were willing to try anything that didn't get them into trouble. "Ash, go over to that VIP gate and try and use your name to get us in. Everyone seems to know who you are, so maybe they'll let a 'celebrity' in. Try and ramp up Misty as a star gym leader too." Ash looked confused at the notion, because it wasn't something he would normally do. Sure he had moments where he got recognized, but he never thought himself a _celebrity_. Eventually, he sucked down his humility, and marched up to the gate with confidence. They had walked around the stadium looking for scalpers, and were at another VIP gate with a bored looking attendant.

"Do you really think this will work?" Misty asked as she watched Ash stride up to the man.

"Not unless that guy happens to be Ash Ketchum's biggest fan, which is impossible because _you're_ Ash Ketchum's biggest fan." He laughed, but one look at her, and he was afraid for his life, so he cleared his throat and continued. "But more importantly, it will be hilarious." Brock said as he watched Ash. Misty laughed at that, and shook her head.

"I didn't know you had it in you, Brock."

"Try and look important. Don't laugh." Brock was already laughing as he said that though, and both of them had to clear their throats. Misty crossed her arms and tried to look disinterested.

"Ticket?" The attendant asked as Ash walked up. He clearly was ready to get off work. Pikachu and Mew straightened up, and tried to look important.

"Yeah we lost ours. I thought you might recognize me though, and let me in." Ash tried to look like he didn't care at all, but the attendant put Ash's attempt at apathy to shame.

"Ash Ketchum?" he asked with a straight face.

"Yeah, and Misty Waterflower, THE gym leader of Cerulean City. So are you going to let us in or not?" The attendant glanced over to the redhead, who was straining not to laugh at her friend's terrible acting skills.

"No ticket, no entry." Ash was let down, but tried not to show it.

"Do you KNOW who I am?" he asked, then immediately felt stupid because the guard did, in fact, know who he was. Misty and Brock were dying on the inside, but robo-attendant didn't flinch.

"Yes sir."

"And?" Ash hoped the man would give.

"No ticket, no entry." He repeated. The trainer was at the end of his fake pompous rope.

"But I-"

"No."

"But you-"

"Ticket."

"Why-"

"No."

"When-"

"Entry, Mr. Ketchum." The young trainer and the electric mouse on his shoulder sighed and hung their heads. Misty and Brock were about to let loose and start cracking jokes, when who should arrive but their guardian angel.

"Thank you Mr. Williams, for doing a wonderful job, but I happen to know these kids right here. If Ash is done trying to play celebrity, I would be more than happy to let you kids in." Ash turned around to see the smiling face of Mr. Charles Goodshow, President of the Pokemon League. Finally realizing what he said, his friends and pokemon lost it. With the sound of their hysteric laughter as background noise, Ash rubbed the back of his neck and agreed to shut up. The gate attendant merely stepped out of the way and let the group in.

"Oh please, you first, _Mr. Ketchum_." Misty mocked.

"Well you too, Misty. After all, you are THE gym leader of Cerulean City." Brock added. The girl whirled around.

"What are you trying to say Brock? It's not an important job?" She snapped. His eyes went wide.

"N-no, I was just q-quoting Ash and-" Brock stammered. _'Damn that girl has a temper'. _She laughed.

"I was just kidding! You should have seen the look on your face!" The gym leader's giggles died out, and the group quieted as they walked up the stairwell into the stadium. The buzz of the pre-battle crowd got louder as they got closer.

"You really cut this one close!" Mr. Goodshow said as they climbed. "If I remember correctly, you're friends with Max Maple, Ash?" Ash confirmed that thought, and Goodshow smiled. "Well, neither he nor Pete were supposed to make it this far. Several people think this is going to be a great battle because of that, but some of the VIPs here see it as unimportant and have chosen not to come today. There are a couple free seats in all of the boxes, if you want to look around. Better hurry though; the match is going to start in a minute!"

The three trainers all gave the old man their thanks, and as they reached the top of the stairs they separated from the President. He went back down and they turned around and their jaws dropped. None of them had been in a VIP box before and were surprised to find an amazing view of the field from halfway up the stadium as well as an all-you-can-eat buffet, a staff of assistants and a series of TVs showing different views of the field, and displaying information like temperature, weather predictions, and stats about each trainer. They only paused for a second, however, because they needed to go find the Maples. There appeared to be a hallway that ran around the stadium connecting the boxes, so they traveled down the direction they had split from earlier.

"There they are!" Ash said as they ran into the third box from where they left the president. May heard his voice from the small area of stadium seating by the plexiglass window, and pointed the three out to her family. The Maples waved them over, and Ash, Misty and Brock plopped down in three seats by them. Pikachu and Mew hopped off of their trainer's shoulders and ran up to the glass. Said trainer was awed by the view they had over the middle of the field and the memories it brought back. He was shaken out of his reverie by Norman.

"How did you guys make it here? I though the gate attendant said the VIP boxes were all sold out."

"Mr. Goodshow helped us out."

"You mean the League President?" Norman was shocked. Max told them that Ash knew the President, but he had no clue that they were actually friends. It seemed the boy had friends in high places. If only he knew.

"Yeah, we've met a couple times before; he's a cool guy." Norman just shook his head, and turned back to the field, where the match was about to begin. Even the buffet couldn't pull the attention of Ash and his starter away from the field. It really was their favorite place to be, but they were more than happy to watch Max battle. Finally the crowd died down as they sensed things were about to begin. The announcer came onto the intercom.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The crowd yelled as he began to speak. "Welcome to the first battle of the Indigo League quarterfinals!" The crowd roared even louder. Ash, Misty and Brock were shocked that Max had made it to the Top 8 on his first try. Pikachu and Ash shared a look, remembering what Mew had said about the Master's tournament. If Max made it to the Top 4, he could apply to be in! They turned back to the battle as the announcer was bringing out the competitors. "From Vermillion City, making his second Indigo League appearance, it's Pete Pebbleman!" The young trainer strode confidently to his box on the field. He waved as the crowd cheered, and turned to face the other tunnel.

"And, from Petalburg City, making his very first tournament appearance, it's Max Maple! We certainly saw an excellent battle from him yesterday. Will he be able to stand the pressure again today?" All of Max's friends and family were wondering the same thing.

* * *

Max Maple was in the locker room provided for trainers before battles. Well, not so much a locker room, as it was a small waiting room with refreshments and a bench. He had been pacing, the thought of yesterday's close call, and the possibility of reaching the Top 4 on his mind. Of course, he had researched everything he could on his competitor, but he couldn't find anything particularly helpful. At last, he heard his name called and moved out into the tunnel, towards the field. Thoughts of family and friends, as well as various battles and pokemon from his short journey flashed before his eyes. He had done an excellent job (with some luck, admittedly) to reach the Top 8 but failure was always at the back of his mind. Only the thought of various facts and strategies about battling got him focused.

None of the trainers were being told what field they would be playing on, and so he was anxious to find out. As he left the tunnel, he saw a cluster of rocks forming the majority of the field, with a small pond in the shape a crescent around the right hand side, taking up about a fifth of the area. He walked up to the trainer's box on his side of the field. It elevated him so that he could see over the rocks, and he began to consider what pokemon he should use first. The size of the crowd was the largest he had ever competed for, and they weren't helping to calm his nerves. The official on the sidelines raised his flags, getting everyone's attention.

"This will be a full six on six battle, the winner of which will move on to the semifinals. Are both trainers ready?" The man asked, the attached microphone amplifying his voice. Both Max and Pete nodded. "Begin!" The flags were down, and the game was on.

"Go, Dugtrio!" Pete yelled. The mole pokemon popped out of the pokeball, and settled in on the other side of the field.

"You're up, Cubone!" Max threw out the small ground type. It was fairly new to his team, and wasn't that strong to begin with, but it would work well for what his trainer had planned.

"Alright Dugtrio, do what you do best!" Pete commanded. The group of heads burrowed underground, and began tunneling around the field.

"And it seems Pete is trying to start off with a sneak attack!" The announcer said. Max assumed he would make a direct path towards Cubone, and took action.

"Cubone, weave through the rocks, and use bone club!" The small pokemon understood, having fought his fair share of digletts. He started to form a path through the clusters of rocks in front of him, and waited until the tunneling pokemon popped up. When it did, he jumped forward and dodged it. Cubone turned around, and played a lighting fast game of Whack-a-Mole, smacking each head as much as possible. They dug underground, and tried again. Once Pete saw that Cubone's strategy of 'smack Dugtrio in the face' was pretty effective, he decided to try a new tactic.

"Use magnitude before you surface!" The trio of heads understood, and dug another tunnel. Cubone kept running, but a sudden shaking in the field made him trip. Max knew what was coming, but could only watch as Dugtrio slammed up into his pokemon and threw it into the air.

"Cubone, try and hold your balance!" It was all he could say as he watched the new game being played. On the third hit in the air, he got an idea. "Flip into a headbutt, now!" The small ground type heard him, and did a twist in mid-air. He came crashing down on Dugtrio, knocking the pokemon out.

"Good thinking Max, but we're just getting started." Recalling Dugtrio, Pete pulled out another pokeball. "Go, Cloyster!" The water pokemon came out of the ball, and awkwardly flopped into the water. Max wondered what he was going to do, since Cloyster couldn't learn any offensive water moves. Pete wasted no time in showing the young trainer he was wrong. "Alright, Cloyster, water pulse!"

With an agility not expected of a giant oyster, the pokemon popped out of the water and fired a blast of water at Cubone. The small pokemon could do nothing but hide behind a nearby rock, which exploded under the attack. The water type flew out of the water again and fired another blast, and Cubone hid behind another rock, waiting on Max to do something. The trainer shook off his wonder at the Cloyster's moves and tried to figure out a game plan.

"Cubone, wait for it to pop out, and then use bonemarang!" The pokemon in question rolled out from behind a rock, threw its bone and took cover again. It jumped out to catch it, and began a dance with the water type. For a second, the crowd watched as both pokemon jumped, dodged, and took cover it a hit-and-run frenzy. Finally, after taking a couple of shots to the face, Cloyster got off a good water pulse. Its target had nowhere to hide, and took it head on.

"And that dancing cubone goes down after some excellent footwork!" the announcer yelled. Max returned it, surprised at how well the young pokemon did, and sent out his next choice.

"Jolteon, let's go!" He threw his pokeball and out came the electric fox, who surveyed his surroundings. "Start things off with a thundershock!" he ordered.

The young trainer knew his opponent would expect this, and watched as Cloyster blocked the bolt with an aurora beam. The next one hit, but seemed to do little damage. Pete realized that while fast, Jolteon didn't have that much power against Cloyster's shell, and decided to take a risk.

"Aim for the field, Cloyster!" The dual type began icing the field, and Jolteon started slipping around. Max had already decided to abandon random thundershocks, and tried a new idea.

"Quick attack into a double kick!" The electric type, already annoyed with sliding into rocks, needed no further encouragement. It sprinted to where Cloyster had fallen in the water. The bivalve jumped back out, only to meet a ferocious kick in the shell, launching it down into the water. Max capitalized on the direct hit and told the eeveelution to fire a powerful thundershock into the pond. Cloyster floated to the top, clearly knocked out. Pete just shook his head and recalled it. "Great job, Jolteon!"

"What a combo on the leaping oyster, folks! It seems Max is determined to keep us on the edge of our seats." The crowd only got louder.

"Alright, you're good kid, but now it's on. Ampharos, show him we mean business!" A powerful looking Ampharos popped out of ball, and set his sights on the tired Jolteon. "Ampharos, close the gap," Pete ordered. The charged sheep ran at the exhausted fox, and got ready for an attack. Jolteon was backed to the water, and looked for help from his trainer.

"Jolteon, get to the rocks, hurry!" Like the element he represented, the eeveelution began zigzagging through what was left of the rocks. "Now double kick!" Pete was counting on the fact that Ampharos was slower than Jolteon for his counter. The gap between the two had widened as the sheep was unable to keep up and because it kept sliding around.

"Thundershock now, Ampharos!" he yelled. Jolteon sprung off of a rock and somersaulted, only to meet the lightning bolt launched from his opponent. The flying fox crashed into the sheep causing them both to roll across the field. The crowd got quiet and waited to see the results. Only Ampharos got up.

"Jolteon is unable to battle!" Max heard the referee for the first time since this match started. He recalled his electric type and fished out his third pokemon. It would be a stretch, especially with the type matchup, but he needed to save his best pokemon for whatever Pete had in store. He knew the Vermillion native wasn't nervous, and he figured it was because of whatever he was saving.

"Come on, Scyther!" The dual type shot out of its ball and eyed its opponent. Scyther as a whole were not easily intimidated, but he knew he was going to be relying heavily on Max for this one. "Scyther, stay low and use the field for cover!" This strategy proved effective; as the electric type was having trouble hitting the bug as it flew around. Now it was time to go on offense. "Good, now use agility and get in close for a fury cutter!"

"Charge up, Ampharos!" Pete called. The sheep nodded, and electricity started flowing through its body. It watched as Max's scyther drew ever closer. Finally, Ampharos heard the order to fire, and let loose a powerful electric blast and struck the buzzing bastard right in the chest. It did nothing to slow the vicious pokemon down, however, and it tried a different approach. It felt the bug's sharp arms hit it from the right, and tried to turn and block it. After a second of weak but tenacious slashing, Max called the bladed bug off. Once they broke apart, both trainers saw how tired their pokemon were. "Fire another thundershock!" Pete tried to get the win before Scyther could recover, but the bug's trainer had a plan.

"Stick a blade in the ground!" Sure enough, the electricity was grounded and had no effect on the dual type. Max grinned, knowing Ash would have been proud of that move. _'Well at least I was able to get out of that one! Now how do I finish this thing off?' _he thought. He tried to plan a finishing blow, but his false sense of security cost him.

"Cotton spore while it's stuck!" Scyther and his trainer watched the sheep launch a blast of cotton at its opponent. While doing no damage, the fluffy balls reduced Scyther's aerodynamics, both making him slower and totally making him look super squishy. Max's pokemon was having none of it, and tried to take cover. The young trainer realized his mistake, and tried to take control of the battle again.

"Close in and finish it off with one last slash!" the Petalburg native ordered. His now enraged bug was more than happy to agree, and took off towards its opponent. That was a fatal move.

"Thunderpunch, Ampharos!" Pete yelled. This was his chance to take the lead in this battle, and there was no way he was going to miss it. His faithful electric type nodded, and had no problem following the fluffy Scyther, who was now much slower. The bug brought his arm back, and was about to tear Ampharos in half when it met a crackling fist. Everyone watched as Scyther was blasted back, fainting before he even finished rolling. The turn in the battle did not go unnoticed, and Max gritted his teeth.

"Since Max Maple has lost his third pokemon, we will now take a short intermission." The young trainer ignored the announcer as he began to ramble of sponsors, and quickly went to the locker room.

* * *

Everyone upstairs groaned as they saw Scyther's figure go dark on the jumbotron. They had all been immersed in the intense battle, and were just now peeling their eyes away from the field. Ash, Misty, Caroline and May had been on the edge of their seats the whole time, while Brock and Norman had been analyzing every move made. Ash grabbed his pokemon and made for the buffet. Mew practically exploded with questions, having been quiet nearly the whole time, and her trainer looked at Pikachu for an explanation.

"I made her- shush," the mouse told Mew, "- I made her wait 'til intermission to ask questions." Ash just nodded, and pretended he couldn't understand the rapid fire conversation happening right next to his ears. He reached the buffet and started loading up a plate, as well as a bowl of food for his pokemon. At his starter's request, he threw some ketchup packets in there too.

"Well," Misty said, watching Ash at the buffet, "I could go for something to eat, how about you, Brock?" She waited but didn't hear anything. The gym leader turned back around, only to find the breeder missing. She narrowed her eyes at the empty chair, knowing there was a woman in need of rescue somewhere nearby. Sure enough there was a waitress pinned against the wall with a confused look plastered on her face, and Brock firing pick-up lines at her. _'I turn around for two seconds…'_

Norman and Caroline watched as May and Ash destroyed their plates of food and Misty hauled a flailing Brock back to his seat. They looked down from there to see Mew chattering away, and Pikachu sucking on the ketchup packets to keep himself sane from the legendary's verbal onslaught.

"May says this kind of stuff happens all the time with them," Caroline muttered to her husband as they watched the scene unfold. He just shook his head and turned his view back to field.

"I don't know how those kids keep it up all the time." After a couple of minutes everyone settled down and began discussing the battle.

"I can see a lot of your battle style in his, Ash," Brock said. "So far he has used a bunch of fast pokemon and tried to use hit and run tactics. While this may sound good on paper, Max has one key flaw and I think Pete knows it."

"What's that?" Ash asked. Brock had everyone's attention at this point, and kept going.

"Max knows a lot about pokemon. That's great, but he relies on that information too much, and therefore relies too much on controlling the battle. Once he loses control of the battle and has to go on defense, that's when he struggles."

"How so?" Norman asked. Brock apparently did this at all of the battles, and was very good at it. The Maple father was genuinely curious to hear what he had to say about his son.

"Well, Cubone, Jolteon and Scyther were all told to take cover and try those hit and run tactics on defense. As you know, counter attacks and maneuvering an overly aggressive opponent are important parts of battling, and Max just can't seem to put anything together once he loses control. Luckily reactionary skills will come with practice. This is just his first year, but I bet he will be great with some more training. I mean, he's only ten and he's in the Top 8 of a regional tournament." Everyone thought about that, letting the words soak in.

"I just hope he can make it through this battle," Misty said.

"He still has his three best pokemon," Norman added.

"Let's hope that's enough," Brock finished. The announcer came on the intercom and everyone turned the attention back on the field where the two trainers were walking back out.

* * *

"Are both trainers ready to resume the battle?" The ref asked. Pete Pebbleman and Max Maple both nodded, and the ref raised his flags. "Then: begin!"

"Go, Ampharos!" Pete sent the electric type back out. It had some time to rest during the break, but was still weary. The Vermillion native figured that it was better to do this and figure out what Max had than use a new pokemon and have Max know what he had. He wanted to know as much as he could about the kid before he committed his best pokemon.

"Go, Vigoroth!" _'I need to hit it hard while he's tired. If I can take it out quick, the match will be even again.' _The wild monkey popped out of his ball and began getting pumped up. As soon as it heard its trainer say 'slash', it was off and running. It skillfully dodged both Dugtrio's holes and the stumps that were once rocks, making a direct path to the injured sheep. It took a tundershock and didn't slow at all. Ampharos's final move was a last second cotton spore. Both trainers watched the yellow pokemon tumble back to its side of the field. "Great job, Vigoroth!" Max celebrated the swift K.O., but Ampharos had done its job. Pete also had a plan to take out the troublesome monkey that involved the first matchup they had.

"Time to play, Furret!" The big fuzz ball appeared, and faced down the rampant primate. It was tiny for a furret, but still large enough to be able to deal some good damage. Without much pause, the Petalburg native sent his monkey on another berserker spree. The more experienced trainer decided to use the field to his advantage and sent Furret down into the tunnel system left by Dugtrio. It disappeared into the darkness and Vigoroth, which wasn't the brightest of pokemon, had nowhere to channel his fury. "Sucker Punch!"

It took Max a second to understand, but suddenly he began to see the old game of cat and mouse (meowth and pikachu?) that they had played the whole match. Furret popped out of a tunnel, smacked Vigoroth in the head, and popped back in. The only reason he was worried this time was that Vigoroth was in no way able to counter the assault, other than trying to pick the pest out of the air. Anytime Max had him move, Furret would just pop out of a different hole.

"It seems Vigoroth is in trouble now, folks! How will his trainer get him out of this one?" The announcer queried. It was a question the young trainer was asking himself as well.

"Uproar!" It was an act of desperation, but the hopping pokemon was smacked out of the air by the blast. Max wasted no time, and with a vengeful slash, Furret was launched across the stage. The young trainer thought he got him. He was wrong.

"Rest!" The older trainer called. It was then that Max realized that the damned ferret was sleeping in the tunnels! And there was nothing he could do. "Sucker Punch! Then Slam!" Max felt like banging his head against the wall.

"You know it's coming, Vigoroth! Just land one good slash," Max yelled. Furret bounced up and got a decent shot on the monkey. Vigoroth was tired, but managed to land a weak attack on the quick pokemon. The big ball of fuzz bounced right back up and nailed him in his chest, knocking him out. It waved its tiny arms in victory as it saw the crazed primate fall. Vigoroth's trainer recalled it and reached for his best pokemon, the only one left capable of taking on that annoying weasel. Pete saw yesterday just how good that gallade was, and prepared himself. All he needed to do was learn more about it, and try to wear it down.

"Take that fur ball out, Gallade!" Max threw the dual type out and the crowd went wild. Gallade had apparently become the young trainer's signature pokemon after that enormous comeback yesterday. The Hoenn native was relying on another one today. Gallade spotted its opponent amongst the rubble, and took up its stance. "OK Gallade, hit it with a psycho cut!" Predictable, yet effective, Max figured.

"Back in tunnels, Furret!" Pete said. Gallade reared back and launched two glowing discs that weaved through the battlefield. It wasn't fast enough, though, and Furret dove between the two, and into a tunnel.

"Double team, now Gallade!" The psychic/fighting type bounded around the battlefield at an incredible rate, seemingly appearing at multiple places at once. The sneaky weasel beneath had to make a decision, and picked the wrong image to attack. As it passed through a fake Gallade, the real one slammed into it with a powerful slash attack. Furret's trainer watched as it rolled across the battlefield, and then stood back up ready for more. It ran into another tunnel, and at Pete's order got a quick sucker punch off, staggering the dual type.

"Keep landing those sucker punches, Furret!" A new dance began of the normal type trying to land a hit on the agile fighter, and Gallade trying to slap the fur ball out of the air.

"Close your eyes and focus!" The young trainer from Hoenn ordered. Being half psychic, Gallade was able to pinpoint Furret as it ran through the tunnel system. It anticipated the coming strike, and at the last second landed a devastating psycho cut on the small pokemon. The crowd cheered at the powerful hit, and both trainers thought it was out, but the damned fuzz ball proved too tough. Pete grinned.

"Get in a tunnel and rest!" The Johto pokemon did just that, but Max wasn't about to let it finish.

"Use psychic to pull it out! Then finish it with another psycho cut." Ralts's final form focused on the sleeping pokemon, and dragged it out of the tunnels. Nothing Pete did seemed to wake it up, and the dual type used it for batting practice.

"Furret is unable to battle! Gallade is the victor!" The referee declared. The older trainer was already switching pokemon, and sent out his secret weapon against Gallade.

"I'm relying on you. Go, Gengar!" Max watched the ghost type grin as it set its malicious gaze on his pokemon. Gallade was unfazed and took up a fighting stance. "Start off with a confuse ray!"

"Track it Gallade! Don't let it hit you." Gengar disappeared, and the dual type closed its eyes as it tracked the pokemon. The ghost reappeared and fired a beam of shifting colors at its enemy. The warrior tried to dodge, but got clipped. Luckily it was able to resist the mental attack, but was unable to deal with the following shadow ball. "No! Don't let that bring you down," Max yelled as he saw his pokemon get hit. He knew the battle with Furret had exhausted it, and ghost types were effective against psychic types. Gallade stayed strong, and managed to get up.

"Good shot Gengar, now hit it with a shadow punch!" Both trainers watched the ghost disappear again.

"Wait for it to come out of hiding, then use psycho cut!" Max called. Gallade did one better, and fired a glowing disc into the air where it slammed into the poisonous spirit. Gengar hit the dirt and tumbled into the pond, but floated out grinning.

"Way to stay up! Fire a sludge bomb, then use dark pulse!" The grinning ghost fired a ball of poison, and followed it up with a black beam. The youngest Maple ordered his pokemon to use psychic, but was surprised at how he interpreted that. Gallade grabbed the ball of slime and used it as a shield against the coming beam, taking both out.

"Great job!" his trainer called and he allowed himself a smile. It was short lived.

"Don't stop! Shadow puch!" It became a boxing match as the two dual types tried to land psycho cuts and shadow punches. Max frowned, watching the two, and couldn't think of what to do. He knew that Gengar had the speed advantage, but there had to be _some_ way out of it.

"It's become a stalemate as these two powerhouses can't land a hit!" The announcer yelled, excitedly.

_'What would Ash do… ?'_ The more experienced trainer beat him to the punch, though, and Max Maple could only watch as his best pokemon was blasted across the stage by a powerful shadow ball. The capable fighter had left Gengar worn out and though Pete knew he could probably take out Max's last pokemon with the poison type, he decided to switch. With only his starter left, the young trainer threw out his last hope at a Top 4 spot.

"I need you now, Grovyle!" The grass type came out, ready to put up a tough fight.

"Let's wrap this up Arcanine!" This was one of the Vermillion native's best pokemon, and it looked to be a very uneven fight, not to mention the ghost that waited if a miracle happened. The Maple child knew first hand that crazy stuff happened all the time in battles, and was determined to make a comeback. He nodded down to his faithful pokemon, who nodded back and the two began a losing battle.

"We can still win this! Quick attack into a slam!" They caught the proud dog off guard with a burst of speed, and hit it with a strong slam.

"Get up and use extemespeed! Then flamethrower," Pete said, expecting this to be the end. He was right.

"Try and dodge!" Max yelled, watching the powerful fire type disappear. It only took a fraction of a second for the beast to reach Grovyle, who was still processing his trainer's order. The grass type was blasted into the ground, flipped over, and crashed into a rock. The subsequent river of fire was more than enough to finish it, and once the smoke cleared she was clearly out. Two hits were all it took to bring the match to a finish.

"Grovyle is unable to battle! Arcanine is the victor, and that means that Pete Pebbleman wins the match!" The ref raised the flag on Pete's side of the field, and Max Maple watched his last pokemon go dark on the jumbotron. The young trainer smiled grimly, and went to shake his opponent's hand.

"And that's it! Pete Pebbleman has walked away from this fantastic battle with a victory, and will go on to the semifinals. Let's hear it for both of our competitors!" The crowd was already going crazy, but they got even louder. Max just slumped back to the tunnel and tried to hold back his tears. Losing a tournament was always hardest the first time.

* * *

"But I could have done more!" Ash just put his arm around the kid and let him have his moment. Max had come out of the stadium and tried to find his family. Of course, he had been elated to see Ash, Misty and Brock, but once he found out that the only match they saw was the one he lost he was back to being sad. Not even holding the cuddly eevee in his arms could cheer him up, though it was trying its best. Everyone had given him encouragement, but after that didn't work they gave him his space. Ash knew what it was like to be where he was.

"You know, I only got Top 16 when I first tried, right? In fact, I just got Top 4 for my first time!" Max didn't want to listen though.

"B-but I'm supposed to b-be better than you!" Brock and Misty were holding back laughs, while the Chosen One was trying to restrain himself from strangling a 10-year-old. One look to Pikachu said no zapping either, although the mouse had disobeyed his trainer before.

"Look, losing's never easy, but you just have to make an attempt to learn from it," the older trainer continued.

"Pi pika chu," his starter added. Max took a deep breath and admitted his friend was right. Ash considered what he was about to say, then decided that it would be for the best.

"I'm actually about to spend the whole summer training for a tournament. Would you want to come with me? Brock and Misty are coming too." The entire Maple family looked at the three, who nodded, and everyone looked down at the young boy. It only took a second to decide that if he wanted to get better; spending the summer training with Ash was the way to do it.

"Yeah, that sounds great!" He said enthusiastically.

"Awesome!" Brock cut in. "I think we're staying for the rest of the tournament to find out what the big mystery is," at this Ash and Misty agreed, "then we'll leave from here." He was about to continue, but Caroline interrupted.

"Before you leave, why don't you and Ash have that battle you kept going on and on about, Max?" The kid blushed and tried to get his mom to shut up. "Don't you remember it was always 'battle with Ash this' and 'gonna destroy him' that." The older woman was blissfully unaware of the embarrassment she was causing her son, and the kick that his friends were getting out of it. "Norman and I were both excited to see that one."

"W-well," the young trainer said, trying to save face, "while you DID promise me a battle, Ash, I think my pokemon need a break. We've been at it all week, and they deserve it." Norman was proud of his son for making such a responsible decision, but he had to cut in now.

"Honey, while I'd love to see those two battle, I actually wanted to battle Ash myself. He's gotten a lot stronger and I'd like to see if I can still battle outside the gym." That got the group's attention, and Norman looked over to see both his son and the trainer in question totally pumped up.

"That would be awesome!" the youngest Maple yelled.

"You're on Norman!" Ash added.

"This is exciting, but you need to get your pokemon to the Pokemon Center, Max!" May said. It took a second for the thought to make its way into the kids head, then a look of panic shot across his face.

"You're right!" He put Mew down who scampered up to her trainer's shoulder, and they started across the marketplace towards the overcrowded Center. May would always remember the day that her brother Max told her she was right.

"So how about tomorrow around… one? During the semifinals? There should be nobody around," Ash asked the older gym leader. He just shrugged and looked down to his son.

"Do you want to see those matches, son?" he asked. Max shook his head.

"It would be fun, but I need a break, and I'd rather see you two battle!"

"Well, tomorrow at one it is then. You'd better watch your back Ash, I have more pokemon that just those that I use in gym battles." Norman warned.

"I can't wait to see Ash get his butt kicked." The Waterflower sister joked from behind her friend. Ash just glanced back at her and grinned, too happy to be affected by her comments. He looked up at the married couple he was walking beside.

"Hey Norman?" he asked, getting both of their attention.

"Yes, Ash?"

"Did I ever tell you about my charizard?" Pikachu and Misty shuddered at the name.

* * *

**And Max goes down! That battle took me a while to write, as I did a lot of research and tried to balance game info on pokemon with anime battling styles. I then had to try and figure out how Max would battle after almost a year of being a trainer, which was tough.**

**So tell me what you thought! How was my first full battle? Did I keep everyone in character? What's your social security number and credit card information? Review!**

**Ash and Norman next chapter, whenever that is!**


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